THE LATE - MR. MAX A. MACAITLIFFE. TO THE EIHTOR
ON THE "SPECTLTOR.1.
Sin,—One- of the events of the week is the death of Mr. Max A. ittaeatiliffe; R.A.,' at his residence, 10 Sinclair 'Gardens, West Kensingtbn, on Saturday night last. Mr. Macauliffe was well known as an Oriental scholar and by his great bOok on the religion of the Sikhs. This work is from many points of view. unique, and Mr. Maca,uliffe's services both tb 'students, lovers- of literature, and to the GoVernment deserve wide recognition. The faith- of the Sikhs has hitherto received! little attention, and the only translation of their sacred -book into English-L-made by Dr. Trnmpp,. a• German missionary---was' deemed by the Sikhs • en insult to their religion, owing to its incompleteness, its inaccuracy, and- the Odium- theologically introduced into it. Sinew this man was 'paid' by the GoVerement for Lis, work, reparation was constantly demanded' by the Sikhs, but without success. In 1893' Mr. Meertuliffe; who had:already-interested' himself in the- Saba, their literature' and religion, threw- up his post in the Punjab in order to undertake the :work of accurate translation,:raidthua make reparation:for the failure of Dr. Trunipp: VI% Macauliffe took up his residence at Amritsaroind.eurrounded himself with a staff of ayanis (Or- professional Sikh interpreters); to'rrluise careful criticism: he subjected every detail of-his-work. - He- not only translated in this way the-greater part of the Granth -Sahib; hut he-also collected from various sonmes the lives of the ten Gurus of the Sikh religion, and of the reformers by whom they were influenoed, and ineinded many hymns. that are not. found in the Grantli. The tabour occupied some seventeen years of the- closest attention, and the work appeared in 1909, pub- lished -by the Oxford UniVersity Press. It is written in clear, fluent English, and is interesting from the historical and politiCal as well as ' from the religious point of View. One of the Gents &retold the coming of the white man and the fall of the Mogul 'EmPire. He bade the Sikhs be loyal to their-white masters: It is said that -these words became a battle-cry of the' Sikhs in the assault on Delhi, and orthodox Sikhs to this day take an oath Of loyalty at baPtisni: The preservation of the Sikh religion—in which Mr. Macauliffe was so greatly intereated—is thus a Matter of some itignifi- cance to the Government; even Setting aside the question of Dr. Trumpp's failure and all scholarly and historical benefit's; For this service the Government offered to Mr. Macauliffe the sum of £300, which, in view of the fact that he had spent seventeen years upon the work andexpendedover b.-2;1)00,86mila hardly adequate; It is to be hoped. that even now, though Mr. Iffabaidifte has not lived to know it,--Some kind otrecog- nition of the- value-of his work may be made?--I am, Sir, &c., D. Film)).
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