Note 52 — Chapter II · TESTIMONY OF THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH TO THE SUBJECT OF PROPHECY.

The celebrated historian of Astronomy, Delambre, following the opinions of Sir William Jones and Mr. Bentley in the “Asiatic Researches,” sneers at the supposed antiquity of the Hindoo Astronomical Tables contained in the Surya Siddhanta, and ridicules Bailly and Playfair for maintaining such an opinion. But ridicule is not a test of truth; and after all, his conclusion is only this, that the question seems to be settled! Without insisting on the antiquity of the Tables, it may be urged on very satisfactory grounds, that some of the observations to which they refer, were real and not fictitious. Delambre has brought no proof of his own to shew that they must be fictitious, but has merely copied the statements and arguments of Mr. Bentley. For these, we refer to his work entitled, “A Historical View of the Hindu Astronomy,” London, 1825.