Not only in the country but in Seoul as well the prestige of Japan had suffered greatly by the events of the winter of 1895-96. After the Japan-China war the Koreans were divided into two distinct factions, one holding strongly with the Japanese and the other advocating a more conservative policy, but gradually as the political situation began to crystalize these two split into four, namely the Japanese faction, the King’s faction, the Queen’s faction, and the Tă-wŭn-gun’s faction. This is merely another way of saying that every strong political possibility will have its own faction in such a land as this, according as each man fancies that his champion will get supreme power and reward those who have followed in his train. The number of men who follow the standard of this or that party because of any altruistic or purely patriotic consideration is so small as to be a negligeable quantity. When, therefore, it appeared that Japan’s star was setting in Korea there was a hasty shifting of political platforms and soon it appeared that there were only two, one of which favored Russian influence and the other conservative and very quiet, for the time being, until the extreme pro-Russian enthusiasm should subside somewhat. Of course the Tă-wŭn-gun’s had disappeared with the waning fortunes of the Japanese and the Queen’s faction had gone over to the Russians. It was the conservatives alone that held to their former position and desired no foreign interferance whatever. But many of those who had favored the Japanese joined the conservative party but unlike the “moss-back” conservatives wanted to do something actively to counteract Russian influence. They therefore worked to bring English and American influence into greater prominence. In the heart of this movement was born the “Independence Club.” It will be remembered that ever since the previous year Dr. Philip Jaisohn had been acting as adviser to the Privy Council. This council enjoyed considerable power at first but gradually fell to a secondary place, but now that new conditions had sprung up the element combatting the Russian influence took advantage of the presence of Dr. Jaisohn and other Koreans who had been educated abroad. The Russians seemed to look with complaisance upon this movement and in the Spring of this year seem to have made no effort to prevent the appointment of J. McLeavy Brown, L.L.D., as Adviser to the Finance Department, with large powers; which seemed to bear out the belief that the Russian Minister was sincere in his statement that Russia wished the King to be quite untrammelled in the administration of his government. It is this generous policy of Mr. Waeber that is believed to have caused his transfer later to another post, to be replaced by A. de Speyer who adopted a very different policy. However this may have been, things began to take on a very hopeful aspect in Seoul. Needed reforms were carried through; torture was abolished in the Seoul courts, a concession