Although the
volume (edited by his son, Rev. J.F. Yokoi) of his Life and Letters
shows him to have been an intense and at times almost bigoted
Confucianist, he, in one of his later letters, prophesied that when
Christianity should be taught by the missionaries, it would win the
hearts of the young men of Japan. See also Satow's Kinse Shiriaku, p.
183; Adams's History of Japan; and in fiction, see Honda The Samurai, p.
242, and succeeding chapters.]
[Footnote 53: In the colorless and unsentimental language of government
publications, the Japanese edict of emancipation, issued to the local
authorities in October, 1871, ran as follows: "The designations of eta
and hinin are abolished. Those who bore them are to be added to the
general registers of the population and their social position and
methods of gaining a livelihood are to be identical with the rest of the
people. As they have been entitled to immunity from the land tax and
other burdens of immemorial custom, you will inquire how this may be
reformed and report to the Board of Finance." (Signed) Council of
State.]
[Footnote 54: In English fiction, see The Eta Maiden and the Hatamoto,
in Mitford's Tales of Old Japan, Vol. I., pp. 210-245. Discussions as to
the origin of the Eta are to be found in Adams's History of Japan, Vol.
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