Page:In Korea with Marquis Ito (1908).djvu/316

284 necessary in this place, in order to understand the conduct of the King and, as well, the recent history of Korea. The Queen was, without doubt, an unusually gifted and attractive woman, with the ability to attach others to her, both men and women, in a powerful way. But a more unscrupulous and horribly cruel character has rarely disgraced a throne, whether in ancient or in modern times. Her rivals among the women of the court were tortured and killed at her command; the adherents of the Tai Won Kun were decapitated and their bodies thrown into the streets or their heads used to festoon the gateway. One of the Koreans acquainted with court affairs during her reign informed a friend of the writer that, by careful calculation, he had reckoned the number of 2,867 persons put to death as the victims of her personal hatred and ambition. The number seems incredible, and there is no way to verify it; but no one who knows the history of the Korean Court, even down to very recent years, will assert that it cannot be correct. The tragic death of this woman, not improperly, drew temporarily a veil over these atrocities. But their existence is a part of the proof that, pernicious as was much of the father's influence over the king, the influence of the wife and her family was yet more pernicious.

It was under influences such as these that the royal character of Yi-Hy-eung, now ex-Emperor, developed, and that all the earlier part of his reign was concluded. The result was to be expected namely, an amiable and weak nature rendered deceitful, cruel, and corrupt. The impression made by his presence—as already described (see p. 46 f.)—is not one of dignity and strength of character; but the voice is pleasant, the smile is winsome, the willingness to forgive and to do a good turn, if either or both can be done without too much sacrifice or inconvenience, is prompt and motived by kindly feeling. His Majesty is usually ready to listen