246 AN ESSAY ON THE 



The Sacred Isles in the West, of which S'weta^ 

 dwipa, or the White Island, is the principal, and 

 the most famous, are, in fact, the holy land of 

 the Hindus. There the fundamental and myste- 

 rious transactions of the history of their religion, 

 in its rise and progress, took place. The White 

 Island, this holy land in the West, is so intimately 

 connected with their religion and mythology, that 

 they cannot be separated : and, of course, divines 

 in India are necessarily acquainted with it, as dis- 

 tant Muselmans with Arabia. 



This I conceive to be a most favourable circum- 

 stance ; as, in the present case, the learned have 

 little more to do than to ascertain whether the 

 White Island be England, and the Sacred Isles of 

 the Hindus, the British Isles. After having ma- 

 turely considered the subject, / think they are. 

 My reasons for this opinion are given in the pre- 

 sent work, and I submit them with all due defer- 

 ence to the learned, declaring publicly, that I have, 

 to the best of my knowledge, fairly stated the 

 case, and that I have not designedly omitted any 

 passage that might induce a different conclusion. 

 At the same time I desire them to believe, that I 

 do not mean to write dogmatically, even when I 

 seem to make a positive assertion, and that I never 

 entertained an idea that my conviction should 

 preclude the full exercise of their judgment. 



Should the learned, after a due investigation of 

 the subject and of the proofs I have adduced in 

 support of my opinion, dissent from it, and assign 

 another situation for the White Island, and the 

 Sacred I«les, I have not the least objection to it : 

 for, admitting my position to be right, I am con- 

 scious that Britain cannot receive any additional 

 lustre from it. Indeed I had originally supposed 

 Cixte to be meant, and it was not without some 



