The year 1796 was signalised by a most important event in the field of letters. In the beginning of the dynasty a fount of 100,000 pieces of moveable copper types had been cast, and these had been supplemented soon after by 200,000 more. Now the king began to add to them. First he put out 50,000 and a year later he added 150,000 more; then 80,000 more were made, and moveable wooden types were made to the number of 320,000. Already during this reign the following works had appeared. “The Gradation of Penalties,” “A Commentary on the Chinese Classics,” “The Proper Conduct of the king,” “The Record of the Decisions in Council,” “On Korean Customs,” “On Military Tactics,” “On Forms of Official Correspondence,” “On the Science of Government.” These were now followed by several editions of military and Confucian works, one of which was a digest of all the Confucian Classics in ninety-nine volumes. The King was a great lover of books and gathered all the best books that could be procured. One work whose publishing he superintended in person reached the modest number of 191 volumes. The Minister of Finance advised the minting of five-cash pieces but all the officials united in a protest against it and advised retrenchment as the alternative. In this they were right, for the policy of meeting a deficit by minting money could not but be disastrous. Chapter XIII. A peculiar plague.... a peculiar remedy.... a new king.... various reforms.... beginning of the policy of Roman Catholic opposition.... Christianity and politics.... causes of opposition.... prisons full.... Chinese evangelist killed.... a traitorous letter intercepted.... end of the persecution.... conflagration.... eight severe charges.... the miners’ rebellion.... siege of Chöng-ju.... the mine explodes.... Catholics send to Peking for a priest.... a long list of calamities.... cholera.... taxes remitted.... Europeans fail to enter Korea.... nine years' famine.... terrible suffering.... a new king.... reform.... French priests enter Korea.... the persecution of 1839.... the first French naval expedition against Korea.... The Koreans answer the French charges.... a new king.... reforms.... rapid spread of Christianity.... consternation upon hearing of the fall of Peking.... a noteworthy memorial.... panic.... a good opportunity lost.... a women’s riot. In 1799 a peculiar plague broke out in P’yŭng-yang and spread with great rapidity. It began with fever and ague, accompanied by a cough, and death was very sudden. The king decided that if people so afflicted should eat beef they would recover. So he ordered cattle to be killed and the beef to be distributed among the people. The plague suddenly ceased and the people have always believed that it was the marvelous acumen of the king that enabled him to see the remedy and stop the ravages of the disease.