Francis Wayland

2024/05/15

Image: From the collection of Mita Media Center (Keio University Library) (Donated by Brown University)

Francis Wayland may not have been discussed much in Japan, but he has had a significant influence on Keio University from the time of Yukichi Fukuzawa to the present day. Interestingly, through Wayland as a medium, Fukuzawa's thoughts and the figures around him emerge one after another. Wayland's two major works are The Elements of Moral Science (first edition 1835, hereafter Moral Science) and The Elements of Political Economy (first edition 1837, hereafter Political Economy). Fukuzawa showed great interest in these two works, stating they were "so interesting that I forgot to eat or sleep." Later, Moral Science was translated as "Shushinron" (1874) by Tokujirō Obata (from the "People Around Yukichi Fukuzawa" June 2023 issue), and Political Economy was translated as "Eishi Keizairon" (1871–77) by Tokujirō Obata, who would later become President. In particular, Abe's "Shushinron" spread throughout Japan as a textbook for elementary schools. In this way, the foundation for Wayland's ideas to spread nationwide was laid by those associated with this Juku.

For modern Keio students, Political Economy might be the most familiar. Political Economy is an economics book that Fukuzawa acquired during his second visit to the United States (1867) and brought back to Japan. As Fukuzawa himself recounts in "Fukuo Jiden" (The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa), on Saturday, May 15, 1868, during the Battle of Ueno, he continued his lecture on Political Economy, which he had just brought back from America, without paying any mind to the rising smoke. In the daily schedule of Keio University at the time, "Mr. Wayland's Economics Lecture" was scheduled for 10:00 AM on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, with Fukuzawa himself in charge. This story is skillfully depicted in a hanging scroll by Yukihiko Yasuda, and as an episode of never stopping learning even in times of crisis, it has been passed down within Keio even in the 21st century during the Great East Japan Earthquake and the COVID-19 pandemic. This Juku has designated May 15 as "Yukichi Fukuzawa-Francis Wayland Memorial Lecture," and since 1956, the "Yukichi Fukuzawa-Francis Wayland Memorial Lecture" has been held every May. A portrait of Wayland is displayed in the Mita Enzetsukan (Public Speaking Hall) where the event is held.

Wayland was born in 1796 to a devout Baptist couple. The 20 years prior to Wayland's birth were a time when the outlines of America were gradually being drawn, with the Declaration of Independence, the drafting of the Constitution, and the inauguration of George Washington as the first president.

It is difficult to say in one word who Wayland was. He could be described in various ways: physician, clergyman, thinker, educator, scholar, and university president. After graduating from Union College, he obtained a medical license. The choice to become a doctor was partly due to financial hardship at home, as he originally wanted to become a clergyman. In 1816, he entered Andover Theological Seminary and began his path toward the ministry. However, as his economic situation became difficult and his ability to continue his studies was jeopardized, his alma mater, Union College, offered him a teaching post starting in 1817, where he taught various subjects such as classical languages, chemistry, mathematics, and rhetoric. In 1821, he was finally able to become a pastor, a long-held wish.

Just as he was appointed a professor at Union College in September 1826, Wayland was elected as the fourth president of Brown University (one of today's Ivy League schools) in Providence, Rhode Island, at the young age of about 30. He would serve as president for over a quarter-century, from 1827 to 1855. In addition to moral philosophy, which was a subject typically taught by the president at the time, he also taught mental philosophy, rhetoric, literary criticism, physiology, and even economics. He is said to have written his own textbook for moral philosophy in just six months. That is Moral Science, published in 1835, which happens to be the year of Fukuzawa's birth. Fukuzawa was initially in charge of the Political Economy lectures, but he handed those lectures over to Tokujirō Obata after about a year and began teaching Moral Science himself. According to the Foreword to the Collected Works of Fukuzawa, Moral Science was not something brought back from the United States, but a second-hand book that Tokujirō Obata found at a bookstore while taking a walk in 1868. Fukuzawa, showing interest in it, ordered 60 copies from the Western bookstore Maruya (later Maruzen) in Yokohama so that Keio students could read it.

As analyzed in research by Masao Ito, Fukuzawa's Gakumon no susume (An Encouragement of Learning) (Susume) was strongly influenced by Moral Science. Let's look at the beginning of the eighth volume of Susume, published in 1874, alongside the beginning of the section "Of the Nature of Personal Liberty" in Volume 2, "Practical Ethics," of Moral Science.

In a book called "Moral Science" written by a person named "Wayland" in America, there is a discussion on the freedom of the human body and mind. The gist of the argument says: A person's self is a complete whole independent of others, and should handle their own body, use their own mind, govern themselves, and perform the work they ought to do. (Susume, Volume 8)

Every human being is, by his constitution, a separate and distinct and complete system, … [Each and every human being is by nature an independent, separate, and complete existence...] (Moral Science)

Fukuzawa clearly states at the beginning that the content of the eighth volume is based on Moral Science. Only five to six years after obtaining Moral Science, Fukuzawa was incorporating Wayland's ideas into his own writings.

Just as Fukuzawa was the founder of Keio University, Wayland was a president who managed Brown University through years of trial and error. Although Wayland was the fourth president, he is sometimes even called the "founder" of Brown University because of his contributions. Both Keio University in Fukuzawa's time and Brown University in Wayland's time had significantly fewer students than today. Brown University also seems to have had an atmosphere closer to a private Juku than a university. In the 19th century, a common challenge for both Fukuzawa and Wayland was having to respond to management crises, including declining student numbers and financial pressure.

Wayland embarked on university reforms in response to the decline in student numbers. In addition to raising educational standards and establishing a library, he also carried out curriculum reforms. Specifically, he revised the traditional compulsory curriculum and added new subjects that identified the needs of a wide range of people who had not previously benefited from university education. He switched to a policy where students would "select" from those subjects the ones they deemed necessary for their future success and study them thoroughly. The "New System," featuring the elective system, began in the fall of 1850. Unfortunately, this system lasted only a few years, and he was forced to resign as president in 1855. While Wayland's attempt might be seen as a failure, looking at how curriculum reforms were implemented in American universities after the Civil War using hints from Wayland's reform plan, he can be seen as a pioneering figure in university education.

Fukuzawa also faced a management crisis due to a decrease in the number of entering students. Discussions were held on whether to reduce the number of faculty or cut salaries, and the situation worsened to the point where he once resolved to close the Juku. However, with the cooperation of those associated with the Juku, he began fundraising based on the Keio University Maintenance Bill in 1880. Even if the circumstances were different, Wayland and Fukuzawa appear perfectly in sync as leaders who struggled to reform educational institutions to overcome management crises.

The latter half of Wayland's presidency was also the era leading up to the Civil War. Wayland was an early opponent of slavery. In particular, he directly criticized the annexation of Texas in 1845 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which threatened to expand slavery. In fact, in the 1844 presidential election, Wayland voted for candidate Henry Clay (who lost), who opposed the annexation of Texas, and in the 1860 presidential election, he greatly rejoiced at the election of Abraham Lincoln.

Wayland's later years overlapped with the era of the Civil War and President Lincoln. In the midst of the American Civil War, he continued to revise Moral Science and published the fourth edition, which strengthened his arguments for the abolition of slavery, in 1865, the year of his death. This fourth edition is the version that would become the most widespread in Japan. Coincidentally, the image of Wayland silently writing during the Civil War overlaps with the image of Fukuzawa continuing his lectures on Wayland's Political Economy in the midst of the Boshin War, Japan's largest internal conflict.

On April 15, 1865, President Lincoln was assassinated while watching a play at Ford's Theatre in the capital, Washington. After the news spread that Lincoln, whom Wayland supported, had been assassinated, citizens asked Wayland to give a memorial address. It is said that 1,500 people flocked to the speech held in the garden of Wayland's home despite the rain. Wayland, whose health had been poor for some time, ended his 69-year life on September 30 of the same year, as if following Lincoln.

The anecdote of lecturing on Political Economy during the Battle of Ueno has been passed down to this day, and Moral Science was not only lectured on by Fukuzawa within Keio but also had a major influence on Fukuzawa's thoughts, including Susume. Since Wayland was already in his later years or deceased when Fukuzawa traveled to America, the possibility that Fukuzawa met Wayland directly is extremely low. However, it would not be an exaggeration to say that without Wayland's works, neither Fukuzawa's thoughts nor the foundation of Keio University could have been formed.

* Masao Ito, "Fukuzawa's Morals and Wayland's 'Shushinron'" in Fukuzawa Yukichi Ronko, Yoshikawa Kobunkan, 1969

* Akio Fujiwara, The Socio-Economic Thought of Francis Wayland, Nihon Keizai Hyoronsha, 1993

* Alberto Martin-Munoz, The 'Heaven' of 'Shushinron': The Hidden Truth in Tokujirō Obata's Translation, Keio Research Center for the Liberal Arts, 2019

* Francis Wayland and H.L. Wayland. A Memoir of the Life and Labors of Francis Wayland, D.D., LL.D. Volume II. 1867. Arno Press, 1972.