In the tenth year of his reign, 1659, having exposed himself to the sun and rain while sacrificing to heaven to secure the cessation of a great famine that was on the land, the king was taken ill, an abscess broke out on his temple and after a short illness he expired. In connection with his death arose a contention that was destined to cause the death of many men. The mother of the dead king was still living. She had worn mourning for three years after the death of her elder son, and now the question was whether she should assume it for an equal length of time for this her second son. Song Si-ryŭl and Song Chun-gil argued that one year only was sufficient. The other side was taken by Yun Hyu and the debate was fierce and long. The classics were ransacked for proof texts in support of either contention. The Prime Minister decided in favor of the shorter term and the Queen Mother wore mourning for but a year. Song Si-ryŭl also laid up wrath against himself by neglecting to have the king’s body wrapped tightly in bandages, until it had swollen so that it required two planks joined together to form the bottom of his coffin. This was considered a great misfortune and ere a year had passed Song was obliged to retire precipitately to the country to avoid being mobbed for the offense. The new king entered upon the duties of his exalted position as a mere lad, in 1660. His posthumous title is Hyon-jong Tă-wang. His first duty was to give his father burial. The geomancers said he ought to be buried on a site near the town of Su-wŭn, but the courtiers thought that was too near the main road, so a place was selected outside the East Gate. This first year was one of reform. The penalties for murder were too small. If a high class man committed murder he could get off with a hundred blows and ineligibility for office for a short time, but now the king, with the advice of the court, made all high class murderers permanently ineligible for office. It must be borne in mind that the demarcation between the upper and lower classes was much more distinct in those days than it is at present. Looking carefully into the condition of things, the king found many abuses that required correction. He ordered that the army be better clothed; he examined into the cases of many of the prisoners of state and liberated not a few; he remitted the tax on hemp and ginseng in Ham-gyŭng Province; he remitted the tax on the gold mines at Tan-ch‘ŭn which had amounted to a thousand ounces a year; he lowered the land tax in Ch’ung-ch’ŭng Province. These voluntary retrenchments called for economy at the capital and the king discontinued the royal stables, to meet the falling off in revenue. A word is necessary here as to the complexion of the political parties. The old Tong-in had gone to pieces and in its place we find the Nam-in, the So-ron and the Sŭ-buk parties. We have in all then the