By contrast, Yukichi FUKUZAWA disliked ENOMOTO and disparaged him, calling him a minister of no action and no policy, a typical opportunist who serves two lords, which is a disgraceful act for a bushi (samurai), and moreover, a man who is glad to be given a peerage by his former enemy and does not know yasegaman (endurance for pride's sake) ("Yasegaman no Setsu [the theory of yasegaman]").
一方で福澤諭吉は榎本を嫌い、彼を「無為無策の伴食大臣。二君に仕えるという武士にあるまじき行動をとった典型的なオポチュニスト。挙句は、かつての敵から爵位を授けられて嬉々としている「痩我慢」を知らぬ男」と罵倒している（『痩我慢の説』）。