18 
MEMOIR OF LAMARCK. 
and penetration, as well as for extensive and varied 
knowledge. 
Jean Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, 
generally called the Chevalier de Lamarck, was 
descended from an ancient family of some dis- 
tinction, possessed of considerable property in the 
province of Bearn. lie was bom at Bezantin, a 
small village in Picardy, on the 1st August, 1744. 
His father’s pecuniary resources having become 
considerably impaired, among other things by the 
maintenance of a numerous family, Jean Baptiste 
being his eleventh child, he found it necessary to 
educate his sons for some useful profession. Several 
of them entered the army, and the subject of the 
present notice was destined for the church, which 
at that period offered many lucrative and influential 
appointments to the members of noble families. 
To qualify him for this office, he was sent to study 
under the Jesuits at Amiens, with whom he remained 
for a considerable time. From the first, however, he 
appears to have had some aversion to the profession 
selected for him by his father, and this was increased 
to positive dislike by the mode of life which he was 
obliged to lead at college. His active and excursive 
mind submitted with impatience to the punctilious 
restraints of college discipline, and the mechanical 
routine of studies prescribed indiscriminately to all, 
without reference to natural bias or acquired predi- 
lection. Most of his companions were actively 
engaged in the field or in other public services, for 
