At that time Russia was represented at Seul by M. Waeber, who had been in Korea for more than ten years, and whose personality and diplomatic arts had won him warm friends in the Court, particularly the Queen and her party. At one time, before the late war, when the ascendency of the Chinese Resident, Yuan Shi-kai, had created disaffection among certain Koreans, M. Waeber was said to have succeeded in quietly allying himself with those people and promoting Russian influence over them.[493] It was now again found possible for him and his talented wife to recommend themselves to the large body of men and women whose feeling the Japanese had in one way or another alienated, and slowly but surely to undermine the latter’s influence in Seul.[494] The successful coercion of Japan by the three Powers after the treaty of Shimonoseki must also have gone far toward reducing the prestige of Japan in the eye of the Koreans, who are singularly susceptible to the influence of events of this nature. As soon as Count Inoüé left Seul, the Queen again came to the front. On July 7, 1895, she suddenly accused of treason the most influential member of the Cabinet and chief of the pro-Japanese party, Pak Yong-hio, who again had to flee to Japan, where he had recently spent ten years of a refugee’s life.[495] Count Inoüé returned to Seul, and again the Queen held her breath. A Cabinet was organized of partisans of reform. The Count was, however, relieved of his post late in July, and in September was succeeded as the Japanese Minister by Viscount Lieutenant-General Gorō Miura, a man of undoubted sincerity, but utterly without diplomatic training. No sooner had Inoüé left Korea than the Queen reasserted herself, increased the personnel of her household, and restored many of her old extravagances so lately removed by the reformer. She had been further embittered by the sharp rivalry shown against her and the Min by the King’s father, Tai-wen-kun, and his party. The Queen finally planned a _coup d’état_, early in October, with a view to disbanding the soldiers trained by Japanese officers and replacing the progressive Cabinet members with her friends. A crisis was imminent, and it was at this juncture that some of the Japanese in Seul betrayed themselves into a crime which caused a bitter disappointment and lasting disgrace to the Government and the nation at home. Perceiving that a passive attitude would result in a great calamity, certain Koreans and Japanese rose early on October 8, to bring Tai-wen-kun out of his secluded residence. Accompanied by two battalions of trained soldiers, the veteran statesman rode toward the King’s palace, where he was to present a plan of reform, but was opposed by the guard, who fired at his escort. In the midst of the mêlée which ensued, some of the bravoes rushed into the Inner Palace and murdered the Queen.[496] The deed was no less crushing a blow to the Japanese nation than it was to the bereaved King of Korea, for the