The long road outside the Palace was lined with Korean cavalry, who turned their faces to the wall and their backs and their ponies’ tails to the King. Great numbers of Korean soldiers carrying various makes of muskets, dressed in rusty black, brown, and blue cotton uniforms, trousers sometimes a foot too short, at others a foot too long, white wadded socks, string shoes, and black felt hats of Tyrolese style, with pink ribbon round the crowns, stood in awkward huddles, mixed up with the newly-created Seoul police in blue European uniforms, and a number of handsome overfed ponies of Court officials, with saddles over a foot high, gorgeous barbaric trappings, red pompons on their heads, and a flow of red manes. The populace stood without speech or movement.
After a long delay and much speculation as to whether the King at the last moment would resist the foreign pressure, the procession emerged from the Palace gate—huge flags on trident-headed poles, purple bundles carried aloft, a stand of stones conveyed with much ceremony[34]—groups of scarlet- and blue-robed men in hats of the same colors, shaped like fools’ caps, the King’s personal servants in yellow robes and yellow bamboo hats, and men carrying bannerets. Then came the red silk umbrella, followed not by the magnificent State chair with its forty bearers, but by a plain wooden chair with glass sides, in which sat the sovereign, pale and dejected, borne by only four men. The Crown Prince followed in a similar chair. Mandarins, ministers, and military officers were then assisted to mount their caparisoned ponies, and each, with two attendants holding his stirrups and two more leading his pony, fell in behind the Home Minister, riding a dark donkey, and rendered conspicuous by his foreign saddle and foreign guard. When the procession reached the sacred enclosure, the military escort and the greater part of the cavalcade remained outside the wall, only the King, dignitaries, and principal attendants proceeding to the altar. The grouping of the scarlet-robed men under the dark pines was most effective from an artistic point of view, and from a political standpoint the taking of the following oath by the Korean King was one of the most significant acts in the tedious drama of the late war.
KOREAN THRONE.
THE KING’S OATH.
On this 12th day of the 12th moon of the 503rd year of the founding of the Dynasty, we presume to announce clearly to the Spirits of all our Sacred Imperial Ancestors that we, their lowly descendant, received in early childhood, now thirty and one years ago, the mighty heritage of our ancestors, and that in reverent awe towards Heaven, and following in the rule and pattern of our ancestors, we, though we have encountered many troubles, have not loosed hold of the thread. How dare we, your lowly descendant, aver that we are acceptable to the heart of Heaven? It is only that our ancestors have graciously looked down upon us and benignly protected us. Splendidly did our ancestor lay the foundation of our Royal House, opening a way for us his descendants through five hundred years and three. Now, in our generation, the times are mightily changed, and men and matters are expanding. A friendly Power, designing to prove faithful, and the deliberations of our Council aiding thereto, show that only as an independent ruler can we make our country strong. How can we, your lowly descendant, not conform to the spirit of the time and thus guard the domain bequeathed by our ancestors? How venture not to strenuously exert ourselves and stiffen and anneal us in order to add lustre to the virtues of our predecessors. For all time from now no other State will we lean upon, but will make broad the steps of our country towards prosperity, building up the happiness of our people in order to strengthen the foundations of our independence. When we ponder on this course, let there be no sticking in the old ways, no practice of ease or of dalliance; but docilely let us carry out the great designs of our ancestors, watching and observing sublunary conditions, reforming our internal administration, remedying there accumulated abuses.
We, your lowly descendant, do now take the fourteen clauses of the Great Charter and swear before the Spirits of our Ancestors in Heaven that we, reverently trusting in the merits bequeathed by our ancestors, will bring these to a successful issue, nor will we dare to go back on our word. Do you, bright Spirits, descend and behold!
1. All thoughts of dependence on China shall be cut away, and a firm foundation for independence secured.
2. A rule and ordinance for the Royal House shall be established, in order to make clear the line of succession and precedence among the Royal family.
3. The King shall attend at the Great Hall for the inspection of affairs, where, after personally interrogating his Ministers, he shall decide upon matters of State. The Queen and the Royal family are not allowed to interfere.