, 1894-10-13

uiNlnbO IuIO CCluIdI lnlCnlN' VI CNCh t""NA CO." x
whole, it comes nearly to the same thing.
How a nation of ten millions Of civilized
men has ever reached such a deplorable posi-
zion would be ain interesting political study.
The present Korea can only be understood
as the resultant of the long strife between
her great neighbours. The japanese
invasion Of the 18th century was. after seven
years Of devastation, fepelled, by CHINESE
forces indeed, but less by deeds of AIMS than
by the exhaustion at once Of the invaders
and Of the country they had &vaded. Korea
repaid her debt to China hy& coming to the
aid of the Ming Empire in the struggle with
the Manchu in the 18th %centhry,' and
the Manchu, the best rulers China has ever
had, made The friendship of Koha a cardinal
principle of Imperial policy.
That China as suzerain Of Korea. and
with her troops actually in the country foro
the Kings protection, is wilfuily challenged
by the Japanese aggression is certain. And
among foreigners on the China coast war
has been daily expected. But it takes two to
make a quarrel, the points OF honour are
not so e~xactihg in the East as in the West,
and whatever she may do on deliberation,
China does not choose to have her hand
forced at the time and place selected by her
challenger. AS a commercial and industrial
community OlfilEh II hCCllSJNilACN ~ AV'iUNC
most e. teibrises to a cash basis, and would
rather pay blackmail to al enemy than spend
ten times the amount in fighting him. This
bourgeois way of looking at things was
well brought out In dealing with the Japan
csc raid on the island Of Formosa in 1874.
as is admirably explained in the letters of
the late Sir Harry Parkes. Indeed those who
would understand the "inEardnesS" Of the
present warlIke odtburst could not do better
than read that portion Of the life of Sir Harry
recently published.
If there were no written records of the
relationship between Korea and her two
neighbours the history might be deduced
from the prevailing sentiments of the people
to-day. The Chinatnan is everywhere wei
coined in the Peninsula. He can roam the
country at will, Sure always of hospitality
and protection from the population. They
look up to hith as belonging to the ''big
country to which the "liCtle country owes
gratitude. In the recent ihsutrectiOnary
troubles in Korea. a Chinese agent sent to
the scene Of the rising was fGted by the PEG.
pie in arms, and had there been any
wisdom at headquarters the affair could
have been disposed of on easy terms through
Chinese influence. As has been truly
said, Korea is saturated with Chinese
suzerdinty.
In significant contrast With this kindly
feeling towards the Chinese is the instructive
ave2Sion of the Korean people for the Japan
csc. Tradition has kept alive the memory of
their sufferings of three hundred years ago.
Nor is the dtmcanour even Of the present
generation of Japanese always so considerato
as might be wished. The refusal Of the
Korean coolies to work on the new telegraph
line which is being constructed by the
Japanese military to connect Soul with En-
san is a proof Of this. The Koreans would
cheerfulIy work for the Chinese in any such
circumstances.
Speaking broadly, therefore. China is the
hereditary friend, as Japan is the hereditary
enemy Of Korea. On the accession of the
Manchu the allegiance Of Korea WIS reatlirm-
ed bv treaty in 1857. and a memorial then
erected outside the western wall Of Soul re-
cords the transaction in lasting and legible
characters.
But a nation thus placed between two fires
100 weak 80 cope with either of its neighbours,
TO which is now added a third, Russia, must
be in a fair way of losing its natural charac-
ter. and that is really what mas happened to
the new Korea. She submits win sombre
acquiescence TO being made the shuttecock
between the rival powers, inclined to lean on
the stronger, but riSking terrible re. risals
III T., ~,:suJ.o t1,o;r 80 ,,oot;r c4,oIrtb