森有礼のみた露都ペテルスブルク

宮永 孝

doi:10.15002/00024186

type:Article

Japan closed the doors to the world for many centuries during which the Japanese were not allowed to leave the country. If they sailed for other countries, they would have been punished with death. However, when the Tokugawa goverment lost its power in its closing days, Choshu and Satsuma clans sent students by stealth to England to learn Western culture. 14 the Satsuma youths with superiors at the Kagoshima Kaiseijo （i.e. school for Western learning） left Hashima （羽島） harbour for HongKong on board the ship owned by Glover, the Scottish merchant in Nagasaki, on 17 April 1865. The students arrived in London on 21 June 1865 after leaving Hashima about two months before. The went into “South Kensington Hotel” located at Queen’s Gate Terrace 19 at a pound （i.e. about 3 ryo） per person per day. The next day the party moved to an apartment house on Bayswater Road to take special training in English by hiring 3 teachers. The names of the English teachers are not known well, but one was named Barugh?, a Scot, and the others were proved to be Thomas Graham （1805～65）, a retired Prof. of Chemistry at London, University College and a former Prof. of Political Economy, Jacob Waley, at the same college. They rented the entire sixth floor for about three months hiring a live-in teacher （i.e. Barugh） and a maid. The Satsuma students got up before 7 and had breakfast at 9. The English lessons （i.e. reading and conversation） were from 10 to 5. During recess, they saw the sights of London. But due to financial straits and in preparation for matriculation in the University College, the students were relocated, by pairs, to the private homes of professors of the University College. Mori and Takami were placed with a retired Prof. Thomas Graham of University College, residing at 4 Gordon Square, Bloomsbury, London. At the coming of the Michaelmas term, 14 the Satsuma students were admitted, under false names, to the faculty of Arts and Laws at University College. They were in reality irregular students. In regard to the lectures they attended, they took Analytical Chemistry by Prof. A. W. Williamson. The Students paid for the schooling £15. 15 per person, which amounted to some 300 ryo in Japanese currency, nowadays 30 million yen. They seemed to prefer chemical experiments to taking lectures due to the lack of English knowledge. The other possible subjects they took were unknown because many of the records of the University College were destroyed by air strikes during World War II. The booklet ‘Mori Arinori’ written by Kaimon Sanjin （i.e. 海門山人著『森　有礼』） which was published by Minyusha, in June in the 30th year of Meiji （i.e. 1897） tells about the subjects the Satsuma students studied in London. It says they studied history, chemistry, physics, and mathematics. Especially. Kinnojo （i.e. Mori） made remarkable progress in mathematics, covering simple arithmetic to spherical trigometry in two years. The author admires Mori’s great ability though, we are unable to trace quotations to their original sources.

Though we are concerned about the daily lives of 14 the Satsuma students in London, there are few clue about them whatsoever. How they lived, how they studied everyday? The subject is unfamiliar to us. During the second summer recess of 1866, Mori and Takami decided to visit St. Petersburg to see more of life as well as to meet the Bakufu students who had recently been sent to the Capital. But what prompted them to undertake the trip remains unknown though, there are some possible motives : 1) to learn the conditions of Russia, especially to know its territorial designs 2) to practice naval surveying as originally assigned by the Satsuma government 3) to exchange views on sundry matters with the Bakufu Students. Before their departure for Russia, Mori and Takami obtained the support of Prof. A. W. Williamson and Laurence Oliphant （1829-88, a Member of Parliament） as well as for arranging passage. Laurence Oliphant lead a very active career. He was a travel writer, diplomat, war correspondent, politician, and mystic. He worked for the British Legation （i.e. Tozenji-temple） in Yedo （nowadays Tokyo） as a secretary. In February, 1861, while in Yedo, he discovered Russian territorial designs to build a naval station on Tsushima. This led him to entertain the most rabid Russophobe, which finally infected Mori. Mori was deeply affected by Oliphant in his views of Russia. Mori and Takami left London for Newcastle on board a coastliner on the 1st of August, 1866. The nextday they arrived at Tynemouth though, they spent a night on the ship. On 3, August, they called on Mr.Johnson, a caretaker. They were told to wait for departure for 5 or 6 days while their vessel loaded. On the day they saw the “George and Emily” （350 Registered Tons）, a three-masted barque carrying coal from Newcastle to Kronstadt. Later they checked into an inn located at 5 Pictonplace in Newcastle. Though Newcastle didn’t arouse their keen interest much, they visited a stone bridge （i.e. High Level Bridge） and an old castle. On 4, August, they visited the “Northern Counties School for the Deaf” located on Pilgrim St. Wellington Place and “The Royal Victoria Asylum for the Blind” located at Northernland in Newcastle. Mori was deeply impressed to see the very height of Western enlightment while visiting the institutions. The humane and rational society in England, without casting physically handicapped people, educate and teach the necessary skills to make a living. On 5, August, they visited Tynemouth by train and went sightseeing to the mouth of river. The jetty was under construction then. On 8, August, “George and Emily” left the dock, heading for Kronstadt. The following day the ship sailed fast. On 11, August, the ship passed Skager Rak. The next day the ship was in the Kattegat Straits, arriving at the offshore of Copenhagen at about 10 P.M. The ship came to anchor for fear of striking rocks. On 13, August, the ship left the offing of Copenhagen with a fair wind. Mori and Takami watched Copenhagen in the distance from the deck. At midnight, a storm hit the ship. From the next day on, they saw land. Mori learned how to use surveying instruments. On 15, August, the wind died down and the ship stopped running. The master started fishing to kill time, catching a lot. The following day the ship passed Gottland at a slow speed. On 18, August, the ship entered the Gulf of Finland though, it met with adverse wind. The next day Mori and Takami discovered that the earth is round. alofting the mast.

On 23, August, “George and Emily” finally arrived at Kronstadt after leaving Tynemouth 16 days before. Mori and Takami watched the forts and the floating batteries with gneat curiosity and later visited the town. On the following day the Satsuma students proceeded to St. Petersburg accompanied by skipper Sample and checked into the “Hôtel de France”, where they met a rich English merchant named Morgan. After that they visited the museum of Mining Academy by the side of the Neva. At about 7 P.M, they found out the lodgings of the Bakufu students meeting 6 of them. After exchanging good wishes, they were introduced to Kōsai Tachibana （1820～85, alias ‘Yamatofu’）, a former villain and fugitive from Japan, who worked as a translator in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with a yearly salary of 500 roubles. This was a man with a past. He never disclosed his real name but seemed kindly-looking. On 25, August, Mori and Takami were invited to dinner by the Bakufu students and were entertained with ‘Sobakiri’ （i.e. buckwheat noodles）. The next day they were invited to the villa of Sir Andrew Buchanan （1807～82, British ambassador-extraordinary to Russia） and were accorded a warm welcome. On 27, August, they were given a warm reception at Fosif A. Goshkevitchs, the former Hakodate Consul and his son, both of whom had good knowledge of Japanese. The next day they visited the American “Turret Ship”, ‘the most powerful warship in the world’. On 29, August, Mori and Takami visited the Imperial Winter Palace accompanied by Yamatofu. The following day they visited Peterhof under the guidance of Yamatofu viewing “Marly”, a small two-storied house built in 1714 by Peter the Great, “Hermitage”, a small house built by the same Emperor, and the “Palace of Peterhof” as well. In the forenoon of 31, August, Yamatofu introduced Mori and Takami to the Chief of Asean Affairs, Peter Stremohof, exchanging portraits and in the afternoon of the same day, they visited the villa of Mr.Morgan, where they met Admiral and Mme. Putiatin. On 1st, September, they visited the “Summer Garden”, which was laid out in 1712 in the Franco-Dutch style and forms a long rectanguler about 37 acres in area and later trying to view the Small Palace of Peter the Great （i.e. a two-storied building erected in 1711 as a ‘Summer Palace’） in vain because the keeper was taking a nap. The next day Mori and Takami invited the Bakufu students and Goshkevitch and his son to dinner for gratitude, when Mori and Sakuzaemon Yamanouchi （1836～86, late in life, the owner of a pharmacy） exchanged a farewell poem of their own writing. On 3, September, the Satsuma students left Kronstadt for Kingston upon Hull on board a regular liner. The name of the ship remains unknown though, probably it was the most popular Hull boat named ‘Emperor’ （i.e. paddle-steamer） plying between Hull and Kronstadt in the 1800’s. After voyaging 7 days, they arrived in Hull at about 3 P.M. on 10, September. Directly after landing they headed for London, arriving at King’s Cross Station at about 10:30 P.M. with the feeling of having come home to their own country. Mori’s observations on Kronstadt and St. Petersburg.

Arrving at Kronstadt, Mori noticed in and around Kotlin island there were many merchant ships, naval vessels, forts （i.e. ‘墩’ ton）, and floating batteries （i.e. ‘礟門’ houmon）. Kotlin seemed to him ‘a natural stronghold’. Actually the island worked as an outpost for the Capital, Russia. It is located some 20 kilometers west of St. Petersburg. The Russian Capital was not easy to apporoach by big ships because of the shallows in the Gulf of Finland. Small ships had to use fixed sea routes. People on the Kotlin and in the Capital used the saltless water in the Gulf, so cholera epidemic prevailed. The population of Kotlin was 37000 （some 25000 were on garrison duty）. What Mori and Takami viewed in the town of Kotlin were : the Admiralty, Observatory, the bust of the Peter the Great, Summer Garden, lookout platform, messhall, and resting place for the Royal Family etc. In winter the island is frozen over, the ships navigate 3 searoutes breaking the ice. When summer comes, the island recovers consciousness becoming active. The most useful informant for Mori respecting the things in St. Petersburg was Kōsai Tachibana, alias Yamatofu, from whom Mori obtained valuable information on the whole condition of the country （i.e. history, geography, manners and customs, trade, the national character, and the states of armaments etc）. Mori knew well that Russia was not a strong nation but a weak one albeit had most land in the world. He knew also that it was an absolute monarchy with territorial ambitions. Since its expansionism was known to all, Mori abstained from fishing any information on it for fear of spies. He was amazed at seeing a great number of soldiers in the Capital. The number of soldiers in Russia was the reason for being disliked by other nations. In Mori’s view, Russians were devote believer in religion, however, he was informed that two social evils were thriving in Russia : one was claiming a fortune and the other was illicit intercourses with women. People were tainted by immoral deeds. He discovered that this country was behind the other advanced nations in terms of military affairs, medicine, and sciences. But he thought that by ruling wisely, the reforms of Czar Alexander II would reclaim the country from savagery. Mori noticed also that Russians were honest, gentle, and unpolished on the whole. Despite his great interest in politics in Russia, he refrained from gaining information on it. Because the laws and politics in this country were so harsh that he followed kind advice before leaving England.

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