sent there
in 1866 and later, and a fight took place in which the French were
repulsed. In consequence the persecution of the Christians grew more
severe. War-ships were sent by different nations to try to open trade,
but in vain, and finally an American trading vessel was destroyed and
its crew massacred.

This affair brought a fleet from the United States to the coast of Corea
in 1871, which, being fired on from the shore, attacked and captured
five Corean forts. The opening of Corea was finally due to Japan. In
1876 the Japanese did what Commodore Perry had done to themselves
twenty-two years before. A fleet was sent which sailed up within sight
of Seoul, the capital, and by a display of men and guns forced the
government to sign a treaty opening the country to trade through the
port of Fusan. In 1880 Chemulpo was also made an open port. Two years
afterwards a United States fleet obtained similar concessions, and
within a short time most of the countries of Europe were admitted to
trade, and the long isolation of the Hermit Kingdom was at an end.

These events were followed by a rivalry between China and Japan, in
which the latter country showed itself much the more active and alert.
Imposing Japanese consulates were built in Seoul, flourishing
settlements were laid out, and energetic steps taken to make Japan the
paramount power in Corea. As a result, the Coreans became divided into
two factions, a progressive one which favored the Japanese, and a
conservative one which was more in touch with the backwardness of China
and whose members hated the stirring islanders.

In 1882 a plot was formed by the Min faction, the active element in the
conservative party, to drive the Japanese out of Seoul. The intruders
were attacked, a number of them were murdered, and the minister and
others had to fight their way to the sea-shore, where they escaped on a
junk. Two years afterwards a similar outbreak took place, and the
Japanese were once more forced to fight for their lives from Seoul to
the sea. On this occasion Chinese soldiers aided the Coreans, an act
which threatened to involve Japan and China in war. The dispute was
settled in 1885 by a treaty, in which both countries agreed to withdraw
their troops from Corea and to send no officers to drill the Corean
troops. If at any future time disturbances should call for the sending
of troops to Corea, each country must notify the other before doing so.
And thus, for nine years,