Until recently neither public education nor public justice, in the modern meaning of these terms, has had any existence in Korea. Even those who were regarded as preferred candidates for government positions in educational and judicial fields were not really fitted for the intelligent and faithful performance of their duties—supposing (what, in most cases, was not true) that they really desired efficiency and true success. For the common people of Korea, indeed for all except the most highly privileged classes, there was no opportunity for learning and no conception or experience of the fair, legal safeguarding of human interests and human rights. The older educational methods, so far as method existed at all, were patterned after those of China; but they were never so thorough or excellent of their kind as were the Chinese. Civil service examinations were indeed required for official preferment. These examinations were exceedingly superficial, and were not guarded against fraud; so that the selection of successful candidates was too frequently made on quite other grounds than those of superior excellence in passing the examinations. To this latter fact the Korean stories of poor and worthy candidates who have been unjustly deprived of the offices to which they were entitled bear an ample and often dramatically pathetic witness. While, as to the almost total absence of even-handed justice, from the central government at the Court down to the most petty of the local magistrates, the entire history of Korea is one continued pitiful story. With regard to the condition of the public education as late as just previous to, and even after the attempted reforms of 1894, we quote the following description from the _Korean Review_ of November of 1904: