t gazing at it, surrounded by his family and whole household.
The painting was kept at the Palace for two entire days, and when
returned to me was simply covered with finger marks, royal and not royal,
smeared on the paint, which was still moist, and that, notwithstanding
that I had been provident enough to paste in a corner of the canvas a
label in the Corean language to the effect that fingers were to be kept
off. The King declared himself so satisfied with it that he expressed the
wish that before leaving the country I should paint the portraits of the
two most important personages in Cho-sen after himself, viz.: the two
Princes, Min-Young-Huan, and Min-Young-Chun, the former of whom was
Commander-in-chief of the Corean land forces, and the other, Prime
Minister of the kingdom, in fact, the Bismarck of Cho-sen.

No sooner had I answered "yes" to this request than the sitting was fixed
for the next morning at 11 o'clock. The crucial matter, of course, was
the question of precedence, and this would have been difficult to settle
had not the Prime Minister caught a bad cold, which caused his sitting to
be delayed for some days. Hence it was that at 11 o'clock punctually I
was to portray prince Min-Young-Huan, the commander-in-chief of the
Corean troops.

[Illustration: H.R.H. PRINCE MIN-YOUNG-HUAN]

General Le Gendre, with his usual kindness, had offered me a room in his
house, in which I could receive, and paint His Royal Highness. The
excitement at Court on the subject of these pictures, had apparently been
great, for late at night a message was brought me from the palace to
the effect that the King, having heard that I preferred painting the two
princes in their smartest dark blue gowns of lovely silk instead of in
their white mourning ones, had given Min orders to comply with my wish.
The grant of such a privilege was, indeed, remarkable, when it is
remembered how strict the rules as to mourning were, not only at Court,
but all over the country; for so strict are the mourning rules of the
country, that the slightest exception to them may mean the loss of one's
head. The precaution, however, was taken to bind me to secrecy, on the
ground that a bad example of this kind coming from royalty might actually
cause a revolutionary outbreak. It was naturally with the greatest
pleasure, at my success, and the courtesy shown me, that I went to bed,
not, however, without having received yet another message from General Le
Gen