To the Editor of the Dear Str,—As you were good enough induced to give you some further infor-to accept and publish my first letter, I am
motion on Corea, feeling assured that it will interest most of your readers. 1 would first, however, with your permission, rectify some errors which appeared in letter published by you last April. Your correspondent, unintentionally no doubt, misled you in some particulars, which, as they are matters of history, it is necessary to put right.
The Queen (dowager), whose party has just triumphed, is not'only not a Christian, but is inimical to Christians, she being the mother of the King who, in 1839, instigated the persecution: in consequence of which a French Bishop and two Catholic priests, with a great number of native Christians, were mur-Queen's family ically opposed ion of the Christian religion, 2nd.—This sane Queen, named Tcho-taipi, adopted the King then actually reigning. Your correspondent says in error, that the widow of the Inst King (who died compa-natively young) did so, Thisis really what 1 notice in book lately published in Pai by the Catholic Missionaries from Cor:
5 mort ior, 1864, ards un' régne de quatorze ans, et so mort une revolution "do palais a fait passer lo pouvoir dans les "mains @une famille qui avait toujours 616 "trds-hostile aux Chrétiens. Quand Tehiel-"jong avait ete appel an trone en 1849 Page do 19 ans, les grands mandarins "qui alldreut lo sainer' roi dans son axil Kanghoa, ly trouvdreut avec des ments converts d'ordures, les maine sales, "Jo visage tout barbouilié clu jus dun "melon quail mangeait d belles d "Jo lava et on Pamena 2 La capital. "stallé dans son palais of reconnu pour roi, "ji n'a pas fait de mal an peuple, car il n'a tion fait. Sa famille (? femme) Kim a tou-"jours eu Vautorité en main, elle a dispose "do tout comme elle a you lu, lo raia "signé los décrets qu'on lui a présontés, "solvent memo sans lo savoir, car il tait "constamment lyre, Chaque jour il aya-"Jait une grande cruche de vin; des "containes de femmes étaient 12 pour "Yocouper lo reste clu temp:
'The King always names, or to name, one of his children (if there be any) his' successor, the eldest being ordinarily chosen. When he has no children, he chooses amongst his nearest relatives. The throne passes by the delivery of the Royal Seal, which is immediately received by the King elect, if of age. If not, the Seal, and therefore the Regency, is confi-
Histoire do I'Eglise de vol, in cher Victor Palm6, rue Gronolle-S:, Germain, 25; Paris, 1374. ded to the Queen, chosen by the dying monarch, who generally selects the first of his wives. Now, the King Tchiel-tiang, died on 15th January, 1864, without issue, and did not name asueceseor. There were then three widow queens in the Royal palace of Corea, namely:—Ist, Queen 'I'cho, wife of Tktjong, mother of Hen-tong; 2nd, Queen Hong, wife of Hen-tong; and 3rd, Queen Kim, wife of Tehiel-tong. Queen Toho took violent possession of the seal, and thereby became Regent of the kingdom. Although she had a nephew, aged 20, by name ''cho-sering-hi who, as we shall see, was concerned in the revolution of 1873, the Regent would not put him on the throne, because according to the law of the country, a king must belong to the family; and she thereupon chose Niming-pokei, a child of 12 years, second son of Prince Ni-kering-soring Kenn (Regent), as related, with the result, in my previous communication.
$rd.—The changes in the Government of 1873 were not caused in any way by the troubles with Japan, There is no Japan-eno party in Corea, and when the Revolution occurred, there was not the slightest fear of war with that nation, 4th.—With regard to the cheerful hopes engendered by the news from Corea, they are the birth of your April correspondent's vivid imagination; for you will learn by the following particulars, that the kingdom of Corea has positively not gained anything by the Revolution, but that the poor people have fallen from Charybdis into Scylla, and Corea remains closed before, to Catholic miesionarios as well as to European merchante. For this long, but necessary preamble, 1 must ask you kindly tobeer with me. Let us pass on to the news on the atate of the country.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.