英語訳
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Toyohashi City Historical Discourse (Imperial Restoration and Yoshida Domain) 594
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You should resolve not to let this opportunity slip away. If you wait ten years to make this decision, it will be too late to accomplish anything. There is an ancient saying that "those who control others first, but delay, will be controlled by others." I believe you should consider this matter deeply. The Shogun's journey to Kyoto next February will likely proceed without incident, but since foreign troubles have also been sown, it is impossible to predict what may happen in several decades. Should a great crisis occur, the Shogun will inevitably become isolated like the Koga Kubō. When that time comes, if Your Lordship maintains military provisions, assists the Shogun, fortifies a strategic position, takes refuge in the castle, quietly waits for the right moment, raises a righteous army, and summons the great and small daimyo who owe gratitude to the Tokugawa house, surely none would fail to come. Gathering these forces, destroying the disobedient, taking Kyoto, driving out the western armies, honoring the Emperor, establishing a Protector office in Kyoto, and returning the Shogun to Kantō - this would make you truly the great loyal retainer of the realm, and Your Lordship would achieve great accomplishments. Rather than failing to undertake such great works and instead vainly defending an isolated castle until committing suicide, which would be lamentable, I humbly submit my unworthy foolish opinion. Many sins, many sins, with fear and trepidation, respectfully submitted.
(Hozumi Seiken is appointed to the Shogunal Translation Office) First, we can see that there were people who advocated such arguments, but in contrast, someone like Seiken, the son of Ōta Kinshirō, who was already sixty-eight or sixty-nine years old at this time (around Bunkyū 2-3), was still vigorous and was still submitting memorials with phrases like "When Yao and Shun worried about the people, they used human relationships as their standard; Confucius's learning came from Yao and Shun." Comparing these various viewpoints, one finds the disparity in thought quite fascinating. What I would like to discuss here is the matter of Hozumi Seiken.
Regarding Seiken's background, I described his upbringing in the earlier chapter "Foreign Affairs and Yoshida Domain." Seiken completed his Dutch studies under someone named Takahata Gorō, a domain lord of Awa Province, in Man'en 1 (1860) when he was twenty-five, and returned home. As I mentioned in the previous chapter, Takahata's academy was located in Banchō, Edo, while Seiken's home was in the domain's middle residence in Kitashinbori. However, when Seiken was studying Dutch, there was much opposition, making it impossible to pursue these studies alongside domain education. Eventually, he requested leave from the domain lord and
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enrolled in Takahata's academy. After returning home, he lived in quiet retirement, devoted entirely to Dutch studies, but since he had no opportunity to apply this knowledge, he was quite discontented and unhappy. During this time, he fell ill and became bedridden. He also lost his mother, and as a result of his grief, he fell into serious illness. Eventually he recovered, but from then on he never stopped taking medicine.
Later, as you know, the Shogunate established the Naval Training Institute and gathered those who could read Western books to serve as translators. Seiken was also appointed to this position through the recommendation of his uncle Nakajima Saburōsuke. The document sent from the Shogunate to the domain at that time remains in the Ōkōchi family records, as follows:
Bunkyū 2, Year of the Water Dog, Intercalary 8th Month, 13th Day
1. The following document was handed over when the domain representative was summoned by Duty Magistrate Itakura Suō-no-kami:
Retainer of Matsudaira Izu-no-kami
Hozumi Seishichirō
The above person shall be appointed to serve in the Naval Training Institute Translation Office. He shall receive a stipend of five-person rations and three bu of gold per month. This shall be arranged. Consult with the Naval Magistrate.
Thus Seiken became a translator at the Shogunal Naval Training Institute on the 13th day of the 8th month of Bunkyū 2. However, since talk of Dutch learning was still not easily accepted within the domain at that time, and living together with his family in the domain residence was unpleasant, he and his wife moved to separate lodgings in Negishi. At this time, Seiken, together with his colleagues Kondō and Horie, submitted a memorial to the Naval Magistrate. I believe this also provides insight into the thinking of that era, so I would like to include it below.
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Toyohashi City Historical Discourse (Imperial Restoration and Yoshida Domain) 595