No. 141
The Most Noble
The Marquis of Salisbury KG
Yedo
December 18, 1878

My Lord,

In continuation of my Despatch No. 136 of the 12th instant I beg to offer the few following remarks relative to Mr. Satow’s visit to Corea.
I think it may be gathered from the reception of Mr. Satow and also that of Mr. Paul that neither the Corean officials nor the Corean people entertain any positive antipathy towards foreigners. Mr. Satow observes in his report that at Quelpart “not a single hostile look appeared on the faces of either officials or common people, on the contrary, they were all courteous and friendly in their bearing.” And at Fusan he remarked that “as on all previous occasions the Coreans abounded in courteous phrases, and I detected no signs of personal unfriendliness to foreigners. They alleged in reply to every proposition that the ‘law of the country’ was the obstacle which lay in the way of official relations. A large crowd of the ordinary people accompanied us down to the boat, smiling, courteous, and good-humoured.” Mr. Paul also observes in the Memorandum attached to Mr. Satow’s Report “The natives of Quelpart are of a friendly and polite disposition. That they have received orders from the Capital to reject all intercourse with foreigners I have no doubt, but I am confident that the people themselves have not only no antipathy to foreigners, but would gladly welcome them did no such orders exist.” Similar evidence of the friendly disposition of the people of Quelpart is also given in the account by a private visitor to Quelpart which I forwarded to Your Lordship in my Despatch No. 127.
The Corean Authorities are of course under the influence of the traditional policy of seclusion, and it is not surprising that the local officers who met Mr. Satow should have hesitated in the face of a long standing law or order to the contrary to incur the responsibility of initiating communications of an official character. Any change of that law or practice must naturally proceed from the Government which established it. Whether the arguments addressed to the Corean Government by that of China and Japan to which I referred in my Despatch Confidential No. 125 of the 2nd instant will have a favorable effect remains to be seen, but the following passage in a letter from Newchwang addressed to the “Shanghai Courier” under date the 16th ultimo and recently republished at Yokohama seems to indicate that the subject is under the consideration of the Corean Government.
“We learn from Corea that the foreign Missionaries are quite safe there now, and that the Government will soon be prepared to place all nations on the favored clause footing occupied by the Japanese.”
The above observation appears to me worthy of notice because this Newchwang correspondent, who is unknown to me, appears to possess means of information as to what is going on in Corea. A letter from I believe the same hand which was published in Shanghai in March last gave a detailed account of what occurred at the Corean Capital when a Japanese Mission visited it last year, and Mr. Hanabusa who was charged with that Mission has observed to me that he was struck with the correctness of many of the particulars, which had evidently not reached the writer from a Japanese source.
I think therefore from the experience gained by the wreck of the “Barbara Taylor” and from the above-mentioned circumstances that a favourable change of opinion is slowly influencing the Corean mind on the subject of intercourse with foreigners and that Mr. Satow’s visit is calculated, though it may be only in a small degree to stimulate such favorable impressions. He was well received by local officers both at Quelpart and Fusan; at the former place they also visited the “Egeria,” and at the latter a call was paid with unusual promptness by the Pansaikwan to the Japanese Agent in order to excuse himself for not visiting Mr. Satow and to thank the latter for having come to Corea with such a friendly object. Although my letter and that of the Chinese Minister to the Chief Authorities of Quelpart were not received, their contents were carefully studied and warmly approved, and at Fusan copies were taken by the Pansaikwan. I have little doubt that these will be communicated to the Central Government at Seoul, as that officer stated to the Japanese Agent at Fusan that he would report full particulars of Mr. Satow’s visit to his Government and would bring to their notice my objections to the Corean practice of burning wrecks in order that fresh orders might be issued on the subject.
Mr. Satow’s observations as to the relations of the Coreans and Japanese at Fusan are also instructive. The show that Japanese influence in Corea is still exceedingly limited, and that the result of the Treaty made between Japan and Corea three years ago have not come up to Japanese anticipations. The remarks of the Agent as to the futility of Japan endeavouring to force Corea to adopt a more liberal policy are doubtless just, and reflect I believe the opinion of the Government. Corea has little to fear from Japan, and she knows she has nothing to fear from China, but it is to be hoped that she may soon be prevailed on to perceive that her safety from her northern neighbour depends upon her acceptance of relations with Western nations.
I have, &c.

Harry S. Parkes