ABSTRACT
The British Isles were considered in the west as another world, perfect and complete in itself; but of smaller dimensions: . . . philosophers of old used to call Britain a microcosm. That is conformable to the notions of the Hindus, who say that it is another Meru, and exactly half of it, in all its dimensions. Divines in Tibet entertain exactly the same idea: for they likewise call the Elysium of Hopameh, in the west, another world. These islands are obviously the Sacred Isles of Hesiod, who represents them as situated an immense way . . . toward the north-west quarter of the old continent (Theogony 1014). From this most ancient and venerable bard I have borrowed the appellation Sacred Isles, as they are represented as such by the followers both of Brahma and Buddha, by the Chinese, and even by the wild inhabitants of the Philippine Islands.1
