Korea's Fight for Freedom

of their own indolence, saw their national existence filched from them, and scarce dared utter a protest. The triumphant Japanese soldiers stood at the city gates and within the palace. Princes m

tales of the happenings in the provinces. District after district, they said, had risen against the Japanese. A "Righteous Army" had been formed, and was accomplishing amazing things. Detachments of Japanese had been annih

stematically by the Japanese Army under the direction of its officers. I was with a Japanese army during the war against Russia, and had marked and admired the restraint and discipline of the men of all ranks there. They neither stole n

rd in Seoul that trained officers of the old Korean Army were drilling and organizing them into volunteer companies. The Japanese were pouring fresh troops into these centres of trouble, but the rebels, by an elaborate system of mountain-to

ean tiger-hunters. These banded themselves together under the title of Eui-pyung (the "Righteous Army"). They had conflicts with small parties of J

picturesque and, romantic section of the rebels. Their only weapon was an old-fashioned percussion gun, with long barrel and a brass trigger seven to eight inches in length. Many of them fired not from the shoulder, but from the hip. They never

doings of the people of the Tyrol in their struggle against Napoleon. A party of Japanese soldiers, forty-eight in number, were guarding a quantity of supplies from point to point. The Koreans prepared an ambuscade in a mountain valley overshadowed by preci

leaving Chinkokai, the Japanese quarter in Seoul, for the provinces. There came a public notice from

rganizing the various institutions of State. But those who are ignorant of the march of events in the world and who fail correctly to distinguish loyalty from treason have by wild and baseless rumours instigated people's minds and caused the rowdies in various places to rise in insurrection. These insurgents commit all sorts of horrible crimes, such as murdering peaceful people, both native and foreign, rob

roubled with no fears. As for those who have joined the insurgents from mistaken motives, if they honestly repent and promptly surrender they will be pardoned of their offence. Any of you who will seize insurgents or will give information concerning their whereabouts will be handsomely rewarded. In case of those who wilfully join insurgents,

pan, under the expressive title of "explosive thunder," which breathed fury and vengeance. Groups of Koreans in t

will not leave a single rebel against our Emperor alive. Then Japan will bring out all her troops to fight us. We have no weapons at our hands, but we will keep our own patriotism. We may not be able to fight against the sharp weapons of the Japanese, but we will ask the Foreign Consuls to help us with their troops, and maybe they will assist the right persons and destroy the wicked; otherwise let us die. Let us strike against Japan, and then, if must be, all die together with our country and with our Emperor, for there is no other course open to us. It is better to lose our lives now than to live miserably a little time longer, for the Emperor and our brothers will all surely b

ern provinces petitioned Prince

e profits of the ruin of our land. When Japan and Korea fall together it will be a misfortune indeed for you. If you would secure safety for yourself follow this rule: memorialize our Majesty to impeach the traitors and put them to right punishment. Then every Korean will regard you with favour, and the Europeans will be loud in your praise. Advise the Korean authorities to ca

uth, in Pyeng-yang and Kyung Sang, to rise and drive away all Japanese from the various ports, and although your soldiers are skillful with their guns it will be very hard for them to stand against our twenty million people. We will

ighting. This, I soon found, w

, they could not guarantee my safety in the interior. An interview followed at the Residency-General, in which I was duly warned that i

was more than doubtful if, at that time, the Japanese had any right to stop a foreigner from travelling in Korea, for the passport regulations had long been virtually obso

orses or ponies: one for himself, one pack-pony, and one for his bedding and his "boy," Each pony needs its own "mafoo," or groom, to cook its food

s all wear foreign clothes, and they would make me their target before they found out their mistake. A score of suggestions were proffered as to how I should avoid this. One old servant of mine begged me to travel in a native chair, like a Korean gentleman. This chair is a kind of small box, carried by two or four bearers, in which the traveller sits

d specially high terms for the hire of his beasts, because he might never see them again. I needed a "

peditions. I noticed that he was looking uneasy, and I was scarcely surprised when at the end of the third day he

be frightened ab

ou and then will kill me

ed to be killing all m

when Han heard the destination he promptly withdrew. Sin was a good boy

d could not obtain leave. "Master," he said contemptuously, when he heard of the refusals, "these men plenty much afr

d saddles overhauled. The Japanese authorities had made no sign, but they knew

legram arrived for me from Lond

forthwith

e that I would soon be back. I made the hotel ring with my public and private complaints about this i

s had shown me the splendid opportunity in my hands. Early next morning, long before dawn, my ponies came back, the boys assembled, the saddles were quickly fixed and the packs adjusted, and soon we were riding as hard as we could for

lling him of my departure. My letter was not delivered to him until af

e interior, it is deemed inadvisable that foreign subjects should be allowed to travel in the disturbed districts for the present I would also call your attention to the stipulation in A

hat the Korean volunteers had a day or two earlier destroyed a small railway station on the line to Fusan. We knew that a small party of them had attacked the Japanese guard of a store of rifles, not twenty miles from the capital, and had driven them off and captured

riving villages. Every possible bit of land, right up the hillsides, was carefully cultivated. Here were stretches of cotton, with bursting pods all ready for picking, and here great fields of buckwheat white with flower. The two most com

with bits of rag, running over the crops in all directions. Two lads would sit on the upper floor of each of these houses,

mes stood the village "joss," although many villages had destroyed their idols. This "joss" was a thick stake of wood, six or eight feet high, with the upper

ed a patch of vivid scarlet, for the chilies had just been gathered, and were spread out on the housetops to dry. In front of the houses were boards covered with sliced pumpkins and gherkins drying in the

ing in groups, weeding or harvesting. The young men were cutting bushes on the hillsides, the father of the family preparing new ground for the fresh crop, and the very children frightening off the birds. At home the housewife was busy with her children and prepa

met with the same reply-"The Japanese have been to Ichon, and have bur

ot travel faster than your pack," is one of those indisputable axioms against which the impatient man fretted in vain. The pack-pony was led by a horsema

He prefers to average sixty li, but if you are very insistent he may go eighty. It

rk. Still the record was not satisfactory. It is necessary in Korea to allow at least six hours each day for the cooking of the horses' food and feeding them. This is a time that no wis

r; its load was too heavy. "Hire a boy to carry part of its load," I replied.

adventures. "You and I understand one another," I said to him. "These others with their moanings and cries are but as children. Now let us make a compact. You hurry all the time an

n quickly." "Out with the horses," The other horse-keepers, not understanding his changed attitude, toiled wearily after him. At night-time he w

close associate of the Prince Ito, told me shortly before I left that city. "The people of the eastern mountain district

recalled these words of my friend. The "strong hand of Japan" was certainly be

eighty houses. Destruction, thorough and complete, had fallen upon it. Not a single house was left, and not a

ges of straw. The young men were out on the hills cutting wood, and every one else was toiling at house-mak

ople, ruined and homeless, with quick pity. The old men, venerable and dignified, as Korean old men mostly are, the young wives, many w

round with their story. One thing especially struck me. Usually the Korean woman was shy, retiring, and afraid to open her mouth in the

as come to see what has befallen us. We hope you

pyung" (the volunteers) "had been there, and had torn up some telegraph poles. The Eui-pyung came down from the eastern hills. Th

e Eui-pyung broke down the telegraph poles and you did not stop them,' they said. 'Therefore you are all the same as Eui-pyung. Why have you eyes if you do not watch, wh

babe suckled by his mother-saw a soldier lighting up his house. He fell on his knees and caught the foot of the soldier. 'Excuse me, ex

the more. 'Excuse me, excuse me,' he moaned. Then the sold

g and had not noticed the soldiers come. He lifted his knife, sharpening it in the sun. 'There is a Eui-pyung,' he said, and he fired and killed him. One m

re rebuilding our houses," he said, "but of what use is it for us to do so? I was a man of family. My fathers and fathers' f

record means everything to them. When it is destroyed, the family is wiped out It no longer exists, even though there are many members of it still living. As

amilies into rebels. During the next few days I was to see at least one town and many scores of villages treated as this one. To what end? The villagers were certainly not the people fighting the Japanese. All they wanted to do was to look quietly after their own affairs. Japan profess

We would come upon a boy carrying a load of wood. He would run quickly to the side of the road when he saw us, expecting he knew not what. We passed a village with a few hou

age elders would bring me an old man badly beaten by a Japanese soldier because he resisted being robbed. Then

, to escape from the Japanese. I slept that night in a schoolhouse, now deserted and unused. There were the cartoons and animal pictures and pi

o some of

?" I demanded. They pointed to the high and ba

tter for them to lie on the barren