any dangers that might lie in the way, would endeavor to attain their object—the best good of their country.” Other measures followed rapidly, all of which tended to constitute a Cabinet which should be a really effective administrative body, relatively free from court intrigue and from the fear of internal treachery. These measures, taken together, secured a new official system, the beginnings of real government for the first time in the history of Korea, as the following quotation will show: According to the new system the present Council of State is to be called hereafter the Cabinet, and the President of the Council of State the Prime Minister. The respective Ministers of State shall give their advice to the Emperor, and be responsible for the management of important matters of State. All laws, imperial edicts, the budget, the final account, any and all expenditure that is not provided for in the budget, the appointment, dismissal and promotion of Government officials and officers, amnesty and pardon, and other affairs of State, shall require the deliberation and consent of all the Ministers of State as well as the counter-signature of them all. In short, the new system aims at the enlargement of the power of the Government in order to enable it to stand independent of outward influence. How complete a bloodless revolution was accomplished in this quiet and almost unnoticed way will be made more apparent later on when it can be viewed in its larger historical and political settings. That His Majesty the Korean Emperor did not like the change, needs scarcely to be said. The enlargement of the power of the Government meant the diminishing of the Imperial power to dispose of the offices, the possessions, not only of the Crown but also of individuals and of the nation, and the lives of the subjects, without regard to law, order, justice, or the semblance of equity. There is equally little need to say that the Yang-bans and the corrupt courtiers and local magistrates, as well as the court-eunuchs and sorceresses, were in the opposition. But only by such changes is to be constituted the true “Passing of Korea,” in a manner to commend itself to every genuine patriot and to all foreigners who honestly care for the good of the Koreans and for the welfare of the Far East.