OF ARTS AND SCIENCES. 167 



The resolutions were seconded by Hon. Josiah Quincy, in 

 the following words : — 



" I cannot refrain from offering a brief tribute to the memory of 

 William Cranch Bond, with whom my acquaintance began early in 

 this century, and has continued to the present time. His name re- 

 calls that of his maternal uncle, Richard Cranch, of whom a transient 

 notice is not out of place. He was one of our number, and was 

 among the early associates of this Academy. As his position in- 

 dicates, he was one of the distinguished men of his day, — sought, 

 honored, and beloved. His look and countenance are almost identi- 

 cally expressed in the portrait of John Locke, prefixed to the folio 

 edition of his works ; and his contemporaries recognized in Mr. Cranch 

 the same searching, liberal, intelligent spirit. The character of Mr. 

 Bond was, I doubt not, influenced by that of this relative. In their 

 talents and temperament there was a marked similarity. Each of 

 them gentle, simple, and unobtrusive in mind and manners, — casting 

 a natural light on the objects of thought and discussion, without seek- 

 ing or expecting any self-illustration from the reflection of its rays. 



"William Cranch Bond was born in Portland, Maine, in 1789. 

 The removal of his parents to Boston, in 1790, gave him the advan- 

 tage of the common schools for a short time, but pecuniary restrictions 

 obliged him to become an apprentice to his father, ' before,' as he said, 

 * he had learned the multiplication-table,' in the business of a watch- 

 maker and a regulator of chronometers. To acquire greater accuracy 

 in his employment, he was accustomed to take the altitudes of heavenly 

 bodies in hours stolen from business or sleep, and supplied the want of 

 adequate instruments by inventions of his own. His observations of 

 meridian transits were first made by adjusting sight-vanes to the side 

 of a house, over which he noted the appearance and disappearance of 

 the stars. To improve his sight, he was accustomed to gaze for some 

 time into a deep well before searching the sky for comets and indistinct 

 objects. 



"The total eclipse of the sun in 1806 first directed the attention of 

 Mr. Bond to the study of astronomy, at the age of seventeen. 



"In 1811 the observations he made on the comet of that year were 

 honorably noticed by Professor Farrar, and published in the third 

 volume of the Memoirs of the American Academy (page 308). This 



