Mr. Waeber, the Russian minister, and Dr. Allen, Chargé d’Affaires of the United States, having heard the firing, arrived at the palace, while the Japanese minister was still there, and were made acquainted by the king to some extent concerning the occurrences which had just taken place. The poor king was in a state of shock amounting to almost complete prostration, which was pitiable to behold, after the awful experiences of the night and the brutal murder of his idolized queen.
The friends and connections of the royal family, officials, soldiers, servants and hangers on about the palace, of whom there were several thousands, were all in the wildest panic. Every one was rushing in mad haste to escape from the confines of the palace grounds, and uniforms or anything that could distinguish men as belonging to the court were recklessly torn off and thrown away. The American, Russian and English legations were thronged with people, anxious for shelter from the hands of those who composed the band of Korean traitors. The foreign representatives felt and showed much indignation over the cruel assassination of her majesty and sympathy for the king.
For some time they visited the palace every day. As they refused to recognize the rebel government, they probably felt obliged to see his majesty personally, in order to know his wishes and policy, and it is also most likely that, feeling much uncertainty as to the intentions of the persons in whose hands the king was, they wished to keep themselves informed, and perhaps to keep in check any plans of violence toward the remaining members of the royal family. Mr. Underwood was requested to accompany the United States minister as interpreter, while the French bishop acted in the same capacity for the representative of France, since none of the native interpreters could be trusted under such circumstances.
And right here I would stop to ask, why is it that in matters of such extreme importance as the affairs of state between our own government and Eastern nations, there have been up to this time no trained American interpreters, and our highest officials are obliged to depend upon the more than doubtful native interpreters, who even when not wilfully for their own purposes, or through their own cowardice, misrepresenting communications of the greatest importance, may through incapability entirely misconceive the idea to be expressed, or through carelessness omit the most significant part of the whole sentence?
The king was to be seen only under the strictest surveillance of the cabinet, and apparently was under extreme coercion, so that he did not consider it expedient to say anything contrary to their orders and policy. On rare occasions, when their attention was called for a few moments by some of the visiting party, his majesty contrived to convey to Mr. Underwood a whispered message, a sign, a tiny note slipped in his palm, by which he briefly communicated his desires, or plans, or his real replies to questions which had already been answered publicly in accordance with the views of his enemies. As the king stood in hourly fear of poison, and not without reason, since his unscrupulous and unnatural father, the Tai Won Kun, was most desirous to replace him by his grandson, through another son, and as so many of the conspirators surrounding the king had now so much at stake, were in so dangerous a position, and were men who had already proved they would stop at nothing where their own interest was concerned, he would take no food for some time but condensed milk brought in sealed cans and opened in his presence, or eggs cooked in the shells. Hearing of this, and glad to take advantage of an opportunity however small to show our sympathy, the ladies from one of the European legations and myself alternated in sending specially prepared dishes, such articles as contained the greatest amount of nourishment, as well as of agreeable taste.
They were sent in a tin box, provided with a Yale lock. Mr. Underwood, who was now going as interpreter and messenger between the legations and palace, sometimes twice a day, carried the key, and placed it in the king’s own hand, while the box was carried in at any convenient time by the ordinary officials. It was only a small service, but it was to some extent a relief to be allowed to do anything for those who had a claim upon our loyalty, and who had been so shockingly outraged.
One day as Mr. Underwood was going in to his majesty he met the old Tai Won Kun, who said, “Why do you take all that good food in to him? He doesn’t need it. I am old, my teeth are gone, I need it far more than he.” The crafty and cruel old human tiger’s teeth and claws were still only too serviceable, alas! For a long time after the death of the queen, nearly seven weeks, Americans, one or two at a time, were asked to be at the palace every night, as it was thought that with foreigners there as witnesses, the conspirators, whoever they might be, would hesitate to commit any further outrages. There is little doubt that had they thought it necessary to commit regicide, the lives of the witnesses would have been sacrificed as well, but Easterners stand in considerable fear of the wrath of the Western nations, when their citizens are killed, and no doubt the chances of violence to his majesty and the crown prince were somewhat diminished by the presence of the missionaries, who night after night, two and two, left the congenial task of preaching the gospel of peace to insure the continuance of it (or that small fraction which at that time was left to poor Korea).
We wives at home, keeping lonely vigil, while our husbands sentineled the palace, listened with sharpened ears for sounds of ill-omen from that direction. But both they and we were glad of this service, rejoicing to prove that we were the friends of the people and the rightful ruler, from highest to lowest, and we were specially glad that those who had been called disloyal, because they refused to obey the decree which forbade preaching the gospel, were now able to show themselves the most active and unwearied in serving the king.
The day after the assassination, the king’s second son, Prince Oui-wha, sent to ask refuge in our house, where, this being American property, he would be safe from arrest. The legations were all full of refugees of high rank, and several were staying in our Korean sarang or guest room. We were, of course, delighted to receive the young prince, and also to have this further opportunity to prove our regard for him. In consequence of the presence of these refugees we were honored by being kept under continual espionage by the pseudo-government, our compound constantly watched by spies at all exits, by day and night. It seemed monstrous to me, who had never known any of the class whose movements are watched by detectives, nor ever dreamed of coming in any way into collision with any government (much less of being of sufficient importance to do so), but perhaps it was the spirit of revolutionary forefathers which made me believe, that if governments were wrong, right-minded people must oppose them, and that if sheltering the friends of the just and lawful ruler from a company of conspirators and traitors was standing in an attitude of hostility to the powers that be, it was both right and our unavoidable duty to do what we could to shield them from violence and death.
In the meanwhile the new government was appointing new officials, trying, torturing and executing innocent people as the accused murderers of the queen, in order to shield themselves—useless crimes which deceived no one—making a number of new offices and placing Japanese in them on large salaries, and making new and farcical, as well as injurious and objectionable, laws. Women were not to be allowed to go on the street with covered faces, pipes must be of a certain length, sleeves must be shortened and narrowed, coats must be of a particular color, and hat brims a certain width. This was called “Kaiwha” or reform. Large numbers of Japanese flocked to this country and made their way to the capital or into the interior, in the industrious pursuit of wealth, which we were informed was not always limited to legitimate measures, or the possession of sinecures.