DELAMBRE, JEAN-BAPTISTE-JOSEPH, was born at Amiene, September 19, 1749. His course of study was at the gymnasium of his native town. His excellent disposition, great perseverance, and extraordinary memory, early attracted the notice of his teacher In the college, the poet l'Abbd Delisle ; and the friendship commenced between Delialo and Delambre, while they stood In the relation of preceptor and pupil, was continued unabated during tho remaining part of Deliela's life; and Delambro used to express his obligations to that eminent man with great feeling to the latest period of his life.
Delambre was desirous of pursuing his studies in Paris, but his pecuniary means were inadequate to the expenses in which he would be necessarily involved by such a course. The influence of Delisle however procured for him an exhibition to one of the colleges which was in the gift of his native town, and which it has been commonly said was first founded by one of Delambre's own family. The time during which he was entitled to hold it having expired, and his family being enable to furnish him the requisite guidance to prolong the period of his studies, he was compelled to adopt some means of sup portintc himself. After more than a year of disappointment, indecision, and privation, he undertook the occupation of translating foreign works into French; sod many such translations from tho Latin, Creek, Italian, and English writers were executed by him during the first fifteen years after be left, college. In addition to this employment lie gave lemons in languages to private pupils; and by the combined emoluments of these labours ho was not only able to supply his small personal wants, but to make an excellent collection of the beet authors in the several languages which he studied.
The parelmonlous views of parents on the subject of education have been witnessed by every one whose life has been devoted to instruction, under cireumetances similar to those of Delambra Their continual importunity to men eminent in some one pursuit, whom they have employed, to undertake others with which they have little or no acquaintance, and this for the sake of diminishing the expense of education, is proverbial. It was this continual application to Delambre,
who was distinguished both in the philological and philosophical departments of language, to tench mathematics, which induced him at the age of twenty-fly° to enter upon the study of the exact sciences. Most men would have been soon wearied of a pursuit so undertaken ; and this would have been the case with Delambre, bad his mental discipline been merely that of excrdsing the memory, which is unfor tunately too much the tendency of the exclusive study of languages. Order and perseverance were distinguishing characters of Delambre's mind ; end having from professional motives entered on the study of mathematics, and thereby become attached to their pursuit, he deter mined to pursue a regular course of study in these sciences. Ito entered the astronomical class of the College of France under Lalande, but not till he had carefully read the works of his master, and made many notes upon them, amounting almost to a commentary.
On one occasion, shortly after he joined the class, a passage from stratus was required, which Delambre instantly supplied from memory. Lalande, ever alive to the importance of aeronomical history, was immediately interested in Delambre ; and it is probable that to this circumstance much of the future fame and labour' of Delambre are to be attributed, as Lalande became immediately his friend, and hence. forth considered Delambre as his follow-labourer. Many of the most complicated calculations of Lalande were actually performed- by Delambre; but though our author probably entered upon much of this drudgery for pecuniary considerations, he has given ample proof that the labour was far from a disagreeable one to him, by the tables which he himself subsequently published in later life.