Another of the great powers of the West had been humbled. Korea could show her great patron China how to handle the barbarians. He immediately ordered the erection in the center of the city of a monument which had been in preparation since 1866. The inscription ran as follows. “The Western Barbarians have attacked and injured us, with a view either to making war upon us or to forcing treaties upon us. If we consent to the latter it will mean the betrayal of the country. Let our descendants to the ten thousandth generation bear this in mind. Made in the Pyöng-in Year and set up in the Sin-mi Year.” All the court and the nobility vied with each other in congratulating the regent upon the completion of this work and declared that the people were pleased with the prospect of excluding all foreigners and preserving the time-honored seclusion of the land. Chapter XV. The “Frontier Guard”.... Japanese attempts at making a treaty.... agent at the palace.... the Regent’s power on the wane.... a “Combination”.... the Regent retires.... a puppet....“infernal machine”.... reforms.... a dangerous memorial.... fight with the Japanese.... two parties in Japan.... Japanese commission.... negotiations.... treaty signed.... a mysterious conflagration.... Japanese minister.... French priests released.... a curious book.... anti-Christian policy abandoned.... commission to Japan.... conspiracy.... liberal party.... hopeful outlook.... the Min policy.... split between the Min and liberal factions.... Minister to Japan.... military students.... regular troops neglected.... emeute of 1882.... Japanese legation attacked.... the palace entered.... the Queen escapes.... the ex-Regent quiets the soldiers.... a mock funeral. In order to understand the interesting train of events that transpired in 1873 it will be necessary to go back and review the relations that existed between Korea and Japan. At the close of the Japanese invasion an arrangement had been arrived at between Japan and Korea by the terms of which the Japanese placed a number of traders at Fusan. The popular belief of the Koreans that the government accepted these as hostages in place of an annual tribute of three hundred Japanese female hides is an amusing fiction which is intended to offset the ignominy of the ear and nose monument in Kyoto. This colony was called the Su-ja-ri or “Frontier Guard.” The Korean government appropriated ten million cash a year to its support. The Japanese claim that these people were not hostages but were merchants and were placed there to form a commercial _point d’appui_ between the two countries. That the money paid for their support was of the nature of a tribute is neither claimed by the Japanese nor admitted by the Koreans; in fact the terms always used in describing these payments implies the coördinate degree of the recipient.