なぜ福沢諭吉はユニテリアンに関心を失ったのか : ナップの手紙が明らかにする新事実

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タイトル別名
  • ナゼ フクザワ ユキチ ワ ユニテリアン ニ カンシン オ ウシナッタ ノカ : ナップ ノ テガミ ガ アキラカ ニスル シン ジジツ
  • Naze Fukuzawa Yukichi wa yuniterian ni kanshin o ushinatta noka : Nappu no tegami ga akiraka nisuru shin jijitsu
  • Why did Fukuzawa Yukichi lose his interest in the Unitarians? : some new facts the letters of Arthur May Knapp reveal

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The Japan Unitarian Mission was in a crisis of getting no financial support from American Unitarians any longer in late 1896. Then, Clay MacCauley, its superintendent, went back to the U.S. in the next early spring to appeal to them. As a result, he succeeded in persuading them to support the Mission again. His return to Japan was, therefore, supposed to be a very happy one. But, in fact, he did not have "the pleasantest kind of a homecoming", because he had scarcely landed before he heard that he must leave his house as soon as possible. Fukuzawa had been waiting simply for his return to get him out. Keio-gijuku was expanding fast and needed the land on which his house stood, for dormitories to be built at once. MacCauley was perplexed. He could find no available house. In his own words, "Almost in despair I concluded to house myself for a time in our hall." Why was Fukuzawa unwilling to supply another house to MacCauley? The answer was simple: he had lost his interest in the Unitarians while MacCauley was away. The letters the former superintendent, Arthur May Knapp, wrote to the A.U.A.(the American Unitarian Association) in 1897 reveal what happened to Fukuzawa. Knapp returned to Japan "almost exactly synchronous with MacCauley's departure". Fukuzawa welcomed him warmly. One of Knapp's letters tells us that Fukuzawa took him into his confidence and regard more than ever. People called him the second Dr. Simmons, because up to the time of his death the latter had been for thirty-years Fukuzawa's most intimate friend and trusted counselor. Fukuzawa had been contemplating changes in the organization of his university at the time, and asked Knapp for his assistance in the matter. Knapp's radical plan included the following ideas: that the institution would take upon itself an international character seeking a close affiliation with like institutions in America, and that the constitution would be altered so as to permit the appointment of Knapp, and other Americans to be named by him, to the Board of Overseers. Fukuzawa was pleased with his plan and talked of incorporating the Unitarian seminary, Senshin-gakuin into Keio-gijuku. He was confident that the A.U.A. would back up Knapp. As Knapp feared, however, his scheme could not be carried out without the support of MacCauley, who was the representative of the A.U.A., since Knapp had no official position. Unfortunately the two were on bad terms. Consequently, the plan was not approved. Now we see why Fukuzawa was disappointed in Knapp, MacCauley and the A.U.A.. Less than a year later Fukuzawa had a stroke.

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