Sir H.S. Parkes to Earl Granville.—(Received February 14, 1884)

(No. 55)
My Lord,
Peking, December 17, 1883

I HAD intended to report by this courrier particulars of my audience with the King of Corea on the 27th ultimo, but as I find I am unable to do so I think I should forward in advance the inclosed translation of the remarks which His Majesty was pleased to make to me on that occasion, and also a note of the short speech which I addressed to His Majesty, as these papers will alone suffice to show the cordial and gratifying character of my reception.
I should observe that the note of His Majesty’s remarks was furnished to me by the Corean Ministers immediately after the audience, and is, therefore, their own version of His Majesty’s observations. It is remarkable that His Majesty should have noticed as a service rendered to himself the part taken last year by Her Majesty’s ship “Flying Fish” in rescuing the Japanese Minister and his suite when they were attacked and driven from Söul. I was particularly impressed by the graciousness of His Majesty’s manners, the polish and attractiveness of his appearance, and the earnestness and intelligence with which he delivered all his observations.
I feel that I should also not defer to report that throughout the period of my stay in Corea, neither I myself nor any member of my suite experienced any incivility on the part of the Coreans, and that Captain Fullerton and the officers of Her Majesty’s ships, who constantly made shooting excursions to a considerable distance from the anchorage of Chemulpho, were invariably received with kindness and good-feeling by all the people whom they met.

I have, &c.
(Signed)　　HARRY S. PARKES



Note of the Remarks of His Majesty the King of Corea on the occasion of the Audience granted to Sir H.S. Parkes on the 27th November, 1883—(Supplied by the Corean foreign Office)

(Translation)
HIS Majesty having inquired after the welfare of Her Majesty the Queen, the British Plenipotentiary replied.
His Majesty then expressed his gratification at the fact of the British Representative having satisfactorily accomplished so long a journey at an inclement season of the year, and the British Representative having made a suitable reply, His Majesty went on to remark that the British Representative having been sent by Her Majesty’s commands to negotiate a Treaty with His Majesty’s Plenipotentiary, had succeeded in concluding a good and thoroughly satisfactory arrangement. The two countries would thenceforward be in perpetual peace and friendship one with the other, and the advantages which their respective subjects would derive from this Treaty would be entirely due to the exertions of the British Representative, to which His Majesty alluded in the most laudatory terms. After the British Representative had replied to these remarks, His Majesty asked after the welfare of the Captain of Her Majesty’s ship-of-war, and then addressed similar inquiries to the Consul and Secretaries in the suite of the British Representative. His Majesty further expressed his gratitude for the dispatch of a British ship-of-war by Her Majesty’s Government to Corea to make inquiries during the troubles that occurred in the country during the summer of the previous year, and added after the British Representative had replied, that he earnestly hoped for the active assistance and protection of England in the event of any occasion arising hereafter when such aid could be given. His Majesty finally expressed a hope that the British Representative would pray his Sovereign to ratify this Treaty with all dispatch, adding that the constant presence of the British Representative in Corea would, it was to be hoped, afford opportunities for closer intercourse. In asking whether the British Representative was about to return to Peking, His Majesty wished him a prosperous voyage.

Inclosure 2

Reply of Sir. H.S. Parkes to the first part of the Remarks made by His Majesty the King of Corea at the Audience of the 27th November, 1883.

I BEG to thank your Majesty for your gracious inquiries respecting myself. I feel confident that the Treaty which I had the honour to sign yesterday with your Majesty’s Plenipotentiary will bring our two nations into close and friendly relations, and that the commerce it secures will prove mutually beneficial. I feel that I should express my appreciation of the hospitality I have received throughout my stay in Corea, and I assure your Majesty that I shall use my best efforts to promote a cordial understanding between your Majesty’s Government and that of my august Sovereign.