サミュエル・スマイルズにおける大衆観の形成

Abstract

This paper was written down as a part of my historical work, in which I am planning to analyse, firstly, the outlook on the general public of Samuel Smiles (1812-1904), secondly, of Masanao Nakamura (1832-91).Smiles, a biographer in the Victorian era, wrote Self-Help, and, a translation into Japanese of which, titled Saigoku Risshihen, the Biographies of Western Self-Made Men by Nakamura, became a best seller in Japan. It was not only often used as a textbook at primary schools which were established in Japan at almost the same time, but also read by many children from former Samurai families, who had already lost their social status based on the feudalism.Saigoku Risshihen inspired and urged them to devote themselves to studying hard. However, the aim of their study was almost always to succeed in the entranceexamination to Tokyo University, the Faculty of Law of which was established mainlyto make the bureaucrats. It is called risshin-shusse shugi, or the principle for what iscalled the success of life.This is the direct origin of the overheated struggle for success in the entranceexaminations, one of the biggest educational problems in Japan today.And I thinkthat lots of winners learned to look down upon the general public without noticing, andthat it has been another big, but hidden problem of Japanese education.On the other hand, I think that Smiles did not look down upon the generalpublic at all, and that Nakamura learned not to do after reading Smiles'Self-Help, although he had tended to look down upon the general public strongly before the MeijiRestoration.And after all I would like to make the fact known that the ideas of thetwo were much loftier than risshin-shusse shugi.In this paper, I analysed Smiles'outlook on the general public in his youngdays when he lived in the burgh of Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland.Firstly, Iexamined his boyhood, and pointed out two main points:one is that he learned whatthe way of living without mentally bowing to any authorities is like, and the other isthat he knew obscure persons sometimes show brilliant talents.The former point was formed because he was a descendant of a Cameronian, a member of a group of radical Covenanters.Smiles himself was not interested inreligion at all, but he must have heard the stories of his ancestor's martyrdom.Thelatter point was formed because his family had a maid who was excellent at telling himtales.The name of the story was Guy Mannering, and after some years Smiles got toknow that it was a novel by Sir Walter Scott.Smiles was very much surprised toknow that the maid had remembered all of the story and had not ommited at all whentelling him the story.These two points above remained throughout his youthful days.On the otherhand, the atmosphere of his school was very uncomfortable because his teacher wastoo tyrannical.Smiles learned to hate the method to take strong measures in order tomake others bow.And working as an apprentice of a medical doctor afterwards, he found a lotof intellectual farmers in East Lothian.Many of them were well-educated at parishschools in rural areas.So Smiles learned that respectful characters were often made atgood schools.In this paper I introduced a report by one of His Majesty's Inspectors in1840's.I regret that even researchers in Japan often mistake that there were noinspectors in Britain in this age.Some of them have no idea that Scotland has had aquite different educational system from England.Indeed the system of parish schoolsin Scotland was originally made to conciliate Scottish people after the Forty-Five.Sothe duties of the inspectors included watching Scottish population.