New volumes of the Encyclopædia Britannica > Volume 30, K-MOR

MAXWELLTOWN — MAYENNE 589
Here, so far as Great Britain is concerned, he does deserve
the fame of an originator, and his Introduction to the
Science of Religion (1873—the same year in which he
lectured on the subject, at Dean Stanley’s invitation, in
Westminster Abbey, this being the only occasion on which
a layman had given an address there) marks an epoch. It
was followed by other works of importance, especially the
four volumes of Gifford lectures, delivered between 1888
and 1892; but the most tangible result of the impulse he
had given was the publication under his editorship, from
1875 onwards, of The Sacred Boohs of the Bast, in fifty-
one volumes, including indexes, all but three of which
appeared under his superintendence during his lifetime.
These comprise translations by the most competent scholars
of all the really important non-Christian scriptures of
Oriental nations, which can now for the first time be
appreciated without a knowledge of the original languages.
The advantage to the comparative study of religions is
unspeakable; considering, indeed, how few are able to
read more than one or two Oriental languages, it may be
said to have rendered such a comparison for the first time
possible. If the positive value of the books thus inter¬
preted proves less than was anticipated, this fact, too, has
its useful side. Omne ignotum can no longer be taken
pro magnifico. Max Muller also wrote on Indian philo¬
sophy in his latter years, and his exertions to stimulate
search for Oriental manuscripts and inscriptions were
rewarded witlT important discoveries of early Buddhist
scriptures, in their Indian form, made in Japan. He
was on particularly friendly terms with native Japanese
scholars, and after his death his library was purchased
by the University of Tokyo.
In 1868 Max Muller had been indemnified for his
disappointment over the Sanskrit professorship by the
establishment of a chair of comparative philology, to be
filled by him. He retired, however, from the actual duties
of the post in 1875, when entering upon the editorship
of The Sacred Books of the East. The most remarkable
external events of his latter years were his delivery of
lectures at the restored University of Strasburg in 1872,
when he devoted his honorarium to the endowment of a
Sanskrit lectureship, and his presidency over the Inter¬
national Congress of Orientalists in 1892. But his days,
if uneventful, were busy. He participated in every move¬
ment at Oxford of which he could approve, and was
intimate with nearly all its men of light and leading; he
was a curator of the Bodleian Library, and a delegate of
the University Press. He was acquainted with most of
the crowned heads of Europe, and was an especial favourite
with the English royal family. His hospitality was ample,
especially to visitors from India, where he was far better
known than any other European Orientalist. His dis¬
tinctions, conferred by foreign governments and learned
societies, were innumerable, and, having been naturalized
shortly after his arrival in England, he received the
high honour of being made a privy councillor. In 1898
and 1899 he published autobiographical reminiscences
under the title of Auld Lang Syne. He was writing a
more detailed autobiography when overtaken by death on
28th October 1900, shortly after he had written, in the
Nineteenth Century, on the religions of China, and vindi¬
cated the British cause in South Africa against Professor
Mommsen. Max Muller married in 1859 Georgiana
Adelaide Grenfell, sister of the wives of Charles Kingsley
and J. A. Froude. One of his daughters, Mrs Conybeare,
distinguished herself by a translation of Scherer’s History
of German Literature, but died shortly afterwards.
Though undoubtedly a great scholar, Max Muller did
uot so much represent scholarship pure and simple as
her hybrid types—the scholar-author and the scholar-
courtier. In the former capacity, though manifesting
little of the originality of genius, he rendered vast service
by popularizing high truths among high minds. In his
public and social character he represented Oriental studies
with a brilliancy, and conferred upon them a distinction,
which they had not previously enjoyed in Great Britain.
There were drawbacks in both respects : the author was
too prone to build upon insecure foundations, and the
man of the world incurred censure for failings which may
perhaps be best indicated by the remark that he seemed
too much of a diplomatist. Vanity and kindred faults
may easily be detected in his writings, but the sum of
foibles seems insignificant in comparison with the life of
intense labour dedicated to the service of culture and
humanity. (k. g.)
Maxwelltown. See Dumfries.
Mayaguez, a city situated at the west end of
Porto Bico, 72 miles west-south-west of San Juan. It was
founded in 1 <52, is the third in population, and the most
pleasant and most beautiful city of the island. Its streets
are wide, shaded, and lined with handsome residences and
shops. The public buildings are numerous and com¬
modious, including a cathedral, theatre, the court-house
(Ayuntamiento), hospital, barracks, and custom-house.
The city has a public library and excellent water-works.
It is lighted by electricity, and until recently possessed
the only tramway on the island. Mayaguez Playa, where
the shipping is carried on, as at Ponce, is about three miles
from the main city. Much coffee is exported. Population
(1899), about 15,187.
Mayavaram, a town of British India, in the
Tanjore district of Madras, on the Cauvery river ; junction
on the South Indian Railway, 174 miles south of Madras.
Population (1891), 23,765; municipal income (1897-98),
Rs.35,830. It makes a speciality of the fine cotton cloth
known as Kornad from the suburb in which the weavers
live. The municipal high school had 417 pupils in
1897-98.
Mayhole, a burgh of barony and police burgh of
Ayrshire, Scotland, 9 miles south by west of Ayr by rail.
The four principal boot factories employ 1700 hands, and
the trade of 1899 made a record. The manufacture of
agricultural implements is also a staple industry. The
municipal buildings are modern. One of the public
schools has a secondary department. Population (1881),
4474; (1901), 5892.
Mayen, a town of Prussia, in the Rhine province,
on the east side of the Eifel, 16 miles west of Coblenz.
It has lava and slate quarries, various textile industries,
tanneries, oil and flour mills, and tobacco factories. It
has fragments of its mediaeval walls, and a mediaeval keep
(restored in 1893-94). Population (1885), 8440; (1900),
11,961.
M aye nee. See Mainz.
Mayenne, a department of the north-west of France,
watered by the Mayenne.
Area, 1987 square miles. The popiilation, 340,063 in 1886,
numbered 311,207 in 1901. Births in 1899, 7003, of which 290 were
illegitimate; deaths, 6851 ; marriages, 2362. There were in 1896,
626 primary schools, with 45,000 pupils, 5 per cent, of the popula¬
tion being illiterate. The land under cultivation amounted in
1896 to 1,183,677 acres, 889,611 acres being plough-land and almost
all the rest grass land. The wheat crop of 1899 was valued at
£1,200,000; meslin, £156,000; barley, £472,000; oats, £320,000;
buckwheat, £120,000; potatoes, £148,000; mangold - wurzel,
£232,000. Natural pastures yielded £532,000; hemp, £11,000;
flax, £6400; apples, £168,000. The live stock included 78,550
horses, 292,080 cattle, 72,660 sheep, and 76,360 pigs. Mining in
1898 produced only 35,000 metric tons of coal. Spinning at Laval