These reforms that were proposed had the apparent sanction of His Majesty, as is proved by the fact that after their proposal he called all the high officials to the palace and made them a speech in which he referred to this as a splendid opportunity to make a radical and beneficent change in the government, and laid it as a sacred duty upon the officials to carry out the reforms, and he declared that he, too, would become a new king and do his part in bringing about the desired renovation of the land. In spite of the previous declaration that the _tong-hak_ uprising was at an end there was much unrest especially in the south and the _tong-hak_ were really as ready as ever to take the offensive. For this reason the king sent a high official to Kyüng-sang Province to make an attempt at pacification and told the people that the trouble was because of his own lack of virtue and begged them to be patient a little longer until the reforms could be carried out. The people were pleased, especially with the promise that slavery should be discontinued and that the barriers between the classes should be broken down. The fact that this effort on the part of the king was entirely successful shows that the _tong-hak_ were not anarchists or banditti but were merely desperate citizens who required some assurance that certain changes would be made so that life would be bearable. A word is necessary as to the attitude of the Tă-wŭn-kun toward these reforms. He had been called to the palace and put in a responsible advisory position by the Japanese but he was not the sort of man to hold an empty honor or to pose as a mere figure-head. Several of the proposed reforms were distasteful to him but when he found that his objections carried no weight he retired to his private house in disgust. It took him only a few weeks to discover that his elevation had been merely a formality. The month of August was an anxious one in Korea. The battle of Asan had been fought on the 28th and 29th of July and it was known that there would be a decisive battle fought at P‘yŭng Yang in the near future. Foreign opinion was divided as to the probabilities, some people believing that the Japanese would sweep every thing before them and others being equally sure that the Chinese would win. But in spite of the state of anxiety and unrest the month of August saw some important results accomplished in civil matters. The Commission on Reforms were at work on their scheme until about the tenth of the month. It was on August 1st that Japan formally declared war on China and a few days later troops began to pour in by way of Chemulpo and join those already here.