system was made, to replace the one destroyed during the Japanese invasion; the cruel form of torture consisting of bending the bones of the lower leg was discontinued; granaries were built to store grain for use in times of famine ; torture with redhot irons was done away; a war chariot was invented, having swords extending from the hubs of the wheels ; a detective force was formed to keep watch of officials; the size of whippingrods was strictly limited; the custom of branding thieves by striking the forehead with a bunch of needles and then rubbing ink into the wound, was abrogated; the three-decked war-vessel was done away with, and the swifter " Falcon Boat " was substituted; the length of the yardstick was carefully regulated and equalised throughout the country; the west and northeast gates of Seoul were roofed for the first time ; the use of silk was discouraged ; the corrupt mudang, or sorceress, class was outlawed; the great sewer of the capital was repaired and walled up; all the serfs in Korea were emancipated.
We are told that by this time the secret study of Roman Catholicism had resulted in the wide dissemination of that religion in Whang-ha and Kang-wun provinces. This caused uneasiness at court, and the King gave orders to put down the growing church. This was more easily said than done, and, as no deaths resulted, it is probable that little more than threats were indulged in. In 1776 the census of the country showed a population of 7,006,248, which was an increase of over 2,300,000 in a century.
This in itself attests the prosperity of the people. This rate of advance was probably very exceptional, and was largely due to the remarkably long and wise rule of King In-jong, whose reforms we have just recorded.
It was about 1780 that the scholar Kwun Chul-sin gathered about him a company of men and went into the mountains to study the doctrines of Christianity. They possessed a single copy of a Christian work. They one and all determined to adopt the Faith. About the same time another young man met
