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THE SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST. 313 I had in view in publishing these translations. I thought the time had come when the ancient religions of the East should be studied in their own canonical texts, and that an end should thus be put to the vague assertions as to their nature and character, whether coming from the admirers or the detractors of those ancient creeds. To have left out what seems tedious and repulsive in them would have been to my mind simply dishonest, and I could have been no party to such an undertaking. The translations, as here published, are historical documents that cannot be tampered with without destroying their value altogether. It is for the historian to find out what is good and what is bad in them, and I still believe that he who has eyes to see will recognise that there are nuggets of gold to be found in these ancient books, all the more precious because hidden under so much rubbish, that is, under so much detritus of early thought.
When in 1876 I undertook to bring out this Series of Sacred Books, I hardly thought that I could look forward to more than eight years of work. Still as I have been spared, and do not yet feel quite senio confectus, I am willing to work on as long as I can. If, therefore, the Delegates of the Press and the Secretary of State for India are satisfied with what I bave hitherto done, I am at their service for whatever may remain to me of active life.
I remain, my dear Dean, Yours very truly and gratefully,
F. MAX MÜLLER.
