During an audience with a foreigner, the manner of the Emperor has an air of frankness and singular _bonhomie_. He talks with every one, pointing his remarks with graceful gestures, and interrupting his sentences with melodious and infectious laughter. The mark of the Emperor’s favour is the receipt of a fan. When a foreigner is presented to him, it is customary to find upon the conclusion of the audience a small parcel awaiting his acceptance, containing a few paper fans and sometimes a roll of silk. The Emperor rarely exceeds this limit to his Imperial patronage, for, like the rest of his people, he cannot afford to be unduly generous. The dress of his Majesty upon these occasions is remarkable for its impressive and Imperial grandeur. A long golden silk robe of state, embroidered with gold braid, with a girdle of golden cord, edged with a heavy gold fringe, covers him. While the magnificence of this attire excites envy in the heart of any one who sees it, the ease and dignity of his carriage suggest his complete unconsciousness of the impression which he is creating in the minds of his guests. The Emperor is ignorant of Western languages, but he is an earnest student of those educational works which have been translated for the purposes of the schools he has established in his capital. In this way he has become singularly well informed upon many subjects. He speaks and writes Chinese with fluency, and he is a most profound student of the history of his own people. The method and system of his rule is based on the thesis of his own personal supervision of all public business. If there be some little difference between the Utopia of his intentions and the actual achievement of his government, it is impossible to deny his assiduity and perseverance. He is a kind, amiable, and merciful potentate, desirous of the advancement of his country. He works at night, continuing the sessions and conferences with his Ministers until after dawn. He has faults, many, according to the Western standards by which I have no intention of judging him. He has also many virtues; and, he receives, and deserves, the sympathy of all foreigners in the vast works of reform which he has encouraged in his dominions. [Illustration: THE HALL OF AUDIENCE, SEOUL]