6. The payment of taxes by the people shall be regulated by law. Wrongful additions may not be made to the list, and no excess collected. 7. The assessment and collection of the land tax, and the disbursement of expenditure, shall be under the charge and control of the Finance Department. 8. The expenses of the Royal household shall be the first to be reduced, by way of setting an example to the various Ministries and local officials. 9. An estimate shall be drawn up in advance each year of the expenditure of the Royal household and the various official establishments, putting on a firm foundation the management of the revenue. 10. The regulations of the local officers must be revised in order to discriminate the functions of the local officials. 11. Young men of intelligence in the country shall be sent abroad in order to study foreign science and industries. 12. The instruction of army officers, and the practice of the methods of enlistment, to secure the foundation of a military system. 13. Civil law and criminal law must be strictly and clearly laid down; none must be imprisoned or fined in excess, so that security of life and property may be ensured for all alike. 14. Men shall be employed without regard to their origin, and in seeking for officials recourse shall be had to capital and country alike in order to widen the avenues for ability. Official translation of the text of the oath taken by His Majesty the King of Korea, at the Altar of Heaven, Seoul, on January 8, 1895. Though at this date Korea is being reformed under other than Japanese auspices, it is noteworthy that nearly every step in advance is on the lines laid down by Japan. Count Inouye is reported by the _Nichi Nichi Shimbun_ to have said regarding Korea, “In my eyes there were only the Royal Family and the nation.” Such a conclusion was legitimate in the early part of 1895, and in arriving at it as I did I am glad to be sheltered by such an unexceptionable authority. Hence it was with real pleasure that I received an invitation from the Queen to a private audience, to which I was accompanied by Mrs. Underwood, an American medical missionary and the Queen’s physician and valued friend. Mr. Hillier sent me to the Kyeng-pok Palace in an eight-bearer official chair, escorted by the Korean Legation Guard. I have been altogether six times at this palace, and always with increased wonder at its intricacy, and admiration of its quaintness and beauty.