Page:The passing of Korea.djvu/189

 Miura and Sugimura, and upon their arrival in Japan they were arrested and charged with instigating the outrage. The fact of their arrest and trial was a distinct disclaimer on the part of the Japanese government that it was accessory to the crime; and, in spite of the utter inadequacy of the trial and its almost ludicrous termination, we hold to the theory that the Japanese government was not a party to the crime, excepting in so far as the appointment of such a man as .Miura can be called complicity.

But the vigorous action of Japan in arresting Miura and putting him on trial had a strong influence upon the course of events in Korea. The Korean public and all the foreign representatives were demanding that the occurrences of the 8th of October should be investigated, and the responsibility for the murder of the Queen placed where it rightly belonged. This itself bore strongly upon the Cabinet, but when, in addition to this, the Japanese government itself seemed to be weakening, and it appeared that Miura's acts would prove to have been unauthorised, things began to look rather black for the men who were enjoying office solely through Miura's influence, and, although the fiction was still maintained that the Queen was not dead but in hiding somewhere, the situation became more and more strained, until at last it became evident even to the Cabinet that something must be done to relieve the situation. Accordingly, on the 26th of November, the foreign representatives and several other foreigners were invited to the palace, and it was announced in the presence of his Majesty that Cho Heui-yun, the Minister of War, and Kwun Yung-jin, the Chief of Police, were dismissed, that the edict degrading the Queen was rescinded, and that the facts connected with the attack on the palace would be investigated by the Department of Justice and all guilty persons tried and punished. At the same time the death of her Majesty was formally announced.

The position of his Majesty during the months succeeding the attack was anything but comfortable. He had no voice in