We have referred to the Privy Council. This was an advisory board or council composed of some forty men whose business it was to take up and discuss all important government matters, and it was supposed to have a sort of veto power. It exercised this power for about three years but lost it when the Independence Club was overthrown. The entire personnel of this Council was progressive and pro-Japanese. There can be no question that the machinery was now all complete whereby Korea could be governed properly. There was no great obstacle in the way. All that was needed was that no serious blunders should be made and that the Japanese should act firmly but wisely. At the same time there was a strong pressure being exerted behind the scenes in the opposite direction and, as we shall see, not without effect. And so the year 1894 came to a close and the new year opened with great promise of better things to come. On the fifth of the new year the king went to the Ancestral Temple and in the most solemn manner took an oath to carry out the reforms already determined upon and partly inaugurated. It is unnecessary to give this oath in full but only to enumerate the principal points. After a long preamble in which the king declares his intention to uphold the government as an independent one he guarantees specifically that— (1) All thought of dependence on China shall be put away. (2) The line of succession and rank in the Royal Family shall be clearly marked. (3) The King shall attend to public business in person and in consultation with his ministers, and the Queen shall not interfere in government matters. (4) The affairs of the Royal Household shall be kept quite distinct from the general government. (5) The duties of Ministers and other officials shall be clearly defined. (6) Taxes shall be regulated by law and additions to them are forbidden. (7) The assessment, collection and disbursement of the national revenue shall be in the hands of the Finance Department. (8) The expenses of the Royal Household shall be reduced, that the example may become a law to the other departments. (9) An annual budget shall be made out so as to regulate the management of the revenue. (10) The laws governing local officials shall be speedily revised in order that their various functions may be differentiated. (11) Intelligent young men shall be sent to foreign countries to study. (12) A method for the instruction of military officers and a mode of enlistment for soldiers shall be determined upon. (13) Civil and criminal law must be clearly defined and strictly adhered to and imprisonment and fines in excess of the law are prohibited. (14) Men shall be employed irrespective of their origin. Ability alone shall determine a man’s eligibility whether in Seoul or in the country. Chapter XX.