176 



COREA. 



COSTA RICA. 



1882, by which Corea was thrown open to 

 American commerce. A similar convention 

 was signed with China on the same day. 



INSURRECTION. Four days afterward an out- 

 break of the conservative elements resulted in 

 the massacre of the Queen, the heir-apparent 

 and his bride, and the ministers, thirteen in 

 number, who were in favor of foreign inter- 

 course. The Japanese legation was attacked, 

 but escaped to another town, and thence to a 

 British man-of-war. Although the Japanese 

 had no reason to favor the concessions made 

 to China .and the United States, and had no 

 hand in the proceedings, they were visited 

 with the special wrath of the Corean mob, 

 and only escaped a wholesale slaughter by 

 flight. Within a month the Japanese envoy 

 re-entered Seoul with a military escort. The 

 people and Government of Japan were greatly 

 incensed and made immediate preparations for 

 war, but the matter was compounded by the 

 payment of a heavy indemnity. The usurping 

 rebel surrendered on the arrival of a Chinese 

 force of three or four thousand men, which 

 the Chinese envoy led into Seoul simultane- 

 ously with the return of the Japanese embassa- 

 dor, and he was taken a prisoner to Tientsin, 

 and the King restored to full authority. 



THE AMERICAN TREATY. Great Britain and 

 Germany hastened to conclude similar arrange- 

 ments with Corea as those secured by the 

 American plenipotentiary. France negotiated 

 for a treaty, but insisted on the condition that 

 French missionaries should have the liberty to 

 teach, which the Coreans refused to grant. 

 French Jesuit missionaries have for centuries 

 been the only foreigners who could obtain 

 access to Corea. Their propaganda was for- 

 bidden. Yet at times it was secretly protected 

 by the influential converts whom they gained. 

 At other times they have been rigorously dealt 

 with, and on more than one occasion suffered 

 martyrdom. The ex-Regent, who headed the 

 insurrection in July, attempted to extirpate 

 Christianity in 1864, slaughtering the native 

 Christians and putting nine Jesuit missionaries 

 to the sword. 



The American treaty was framed under the 

 inspiration of the Chinese authorities, and em- 

 bodies those liberal principles which the Chi- 

 nese have endeavored to introduce in their 

 treaty arrangements, and which it has recently 

 been the policy of the United States Govern- 

 ment to promote. The aim of the Chinese is 

 to escape from the harsh and humiliating con- 

 ditions which Great Britain imposed upon 

 them after the last opium-war, and which are 

 now maintained to be the proper bases of 

 treaty arrangements with Oriental powers. 

 The treaty introduces China by stating that 

 the President of the United States admits that 

 Corea has always been tributary to China, 

 " but the treaty shall be permanently regarded 

 as haying nothing to do with this." The re- 

 striction of the amount of customs duties which 

 China is allowed to levy is relaxed ; the limi- 



tations in the Corean treaties, instead of being 

 fixed at 5 per cent ad valorem, as in the Chi- 

 nese, vary from 11 per cent on necessaries to 

 30 per cent on luxuries. The Coreans are also 

 allowed to charge higher tonnage dues than 

 the Chinese. Four ports are opened to the 

 commerce of the treaty nations, but strangers 

 are prohibited from traveling in the interior. 

 The importation of opium is strictly prohibited. 

 Foreigners are not permitted to engage in the 

 coasting-trade. The export of grain may be 

 interdicted in times of scarcity. There is a 

 clause providing that diplomatic correspond- 

 ence shall be carried on between the contract- 

 ing parties in the Chinese language. The right 

 of extra-territoriality is qualified by a provision 

 that " if in the future the Corean Government 

 shall bring the laws and legal procedure of 

 Corea into harmony with those prevailing in 

 the United States, the power now granted to 

 consuls of the United States to act judicially 

 shall be withdrawn, and American citizens 

 living within the boundaries of Corea trans- 

 ferred to the full jurisdiction of the native lo- 

 cal authorities." The favored-nation clause is 

 also modified by the proviso which was intro- 

 duced in the Chinese-German treaty of 1880, 

 and in the more recent one concluded with 

 Brazil. In the Corean treaty the clause runs: 

 " But all special concessions made to the most 

 favored nation shall be explained and made 

 public, so that the contracting party may know 

 that such concessions have been made to the 

 favored nations under special conditions." 



COSTA RICA (REPUBLICA DE COSTA RICA). 

 For particulars relating to territorial division, 

 population, etc., reference may be made to the 

 "Annual Cyclopedia" for 1877. 



The President of the Republic is General 

 Prospero Fernandez (entered office on August 

 10, 1882) ; the Vice-President is General Pedro 

 Quiros; and the Cabinet (at the end of 1882) 

 was composed of the following Ministers : In- 

 terior and Justice, General Victor Guardia; 

 Foreign Affairs and Public Instruction, Senor 

 Jos6 Maria Castro ; Finance and (ad interim) 

 War and Marine, Senor Bernardo Soto. 



On the death of General Tomas Guardia, 

 which occurred on July 6, 1882, Minister Li- 

 zano, as First Designate, assumed the executive 

 power provisionally. The decease of General 

 Guardia, who had for so many years been in 

 name the President, but in fact the Dictator, 

 of Costa Rica, provoked a marked exhibition 

 of public excitement ; but the peaceful change 

 of government which ensued proved that his 

 long permanence in power had been effectual 

 in crushing out the spirit of civil strife. 



The Bishop of Costa Rica is the Right Rev. 

 Bernardo A. Thiel. 



The Costarican Minister to the United States 

 is Sefior Manuel M. Peralta ; and the Consul-? 

 General of Costa Rica at New York is Senor 

 Jose" M. Mufioz. 



The United States Minister (resident in 

 Guatemala, and accredited to the five Central 



