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the medical profession. At sixteen he taught school at I'autapaiiy. Lord's Bridge; and at eighteen he took charge of tlie Flaiuficld Academy, and at the same time pursued his classical and mathematical studies under the Kev. Dr. Ik'nedict. On leaving Plaintield he became a member of Bniwii University, rrovidonce, K. I., where he remained about a year. He did nut, however, grad- uate in course, but received the degree of master of arts ia 1795. He then studied thetdogy under liis broth- er: was licensed by the New London Congregational As- sociation in 179G ; labored for some time as a missionary in that part of New Yorli bordering upon Otsego Lake; was school-teacher and missionary at Clierry Valley, in 1795-1797 ; and pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Albany, 1798-1804. In Albany his was the principal church, and most of the leading men in the state, such as Hamilton, Burr, Livingston, and otliers, resorted to it, and many of them were his intimate friends. When the news of the duel between Hamilton and Burr reached Al- bany, Dr. Nott was at Schenectady, attending a meeting of the Board of Trustees of Union College. He was re- quested to make the melancholy event the subject of discourse the next Sabbath, and this sermon on Ham- ilton gave him a wide and enduring fame as a pulpit orator, making at the time a profound impression on the public mind, and assisting greatly to bring lasting odium on the bloody practice of duelling. In 1804 he was chosen president of Union College. When he took charge, the affairs of tlie institution were in a very discouraging condition. It was without funds, buildings, or library, and was in debt, and aU its friends were disheartened. Tlie task was great, but he was adequate to the work ; for he succeeded beyond all expectation in raising funds and providing for tlie pressing needs. He soon exhib- ited liigli qualities as an executive othcer and discipli- narian, and gathered around him an able faculty. Stu- dents began to pour in from every state in the Union, and during his long incumbency upwards of four thou- sand young men graduated. Union College is emphati- cally of his own formation. From 1854 till the time of his death he was senior college president in the world. In 1811 he was moderator of the General As- sembly of the Presbyterian Church. He died Jan. 29, 18Gl>. Dr. Nott publislied a number of baccalaureate and other sermons, addresses, etc.; also, Counsels to Young Men on the Formation of Character, and the Principles which lead to Success and Ifcippiness in Life : — Lectures on Temperance (1847), of which a new edi- tion, edited by Aniasa McCoy, appeared in 1857. These lectures constitute a most efficient argument for the dis- use of all intoxicating liquors. He also extended his researches to some branches of natural philosophy; and in the '• Digest of Patents" will be found thirty in his name granted for applications of heat to steam-engines, the economical use of fuel, etc. George K. Crooks, D.D., in the New York Methodist (Feb. 3, 186G), says of him : " Perhaps no American educator, no American preacher, who has seen tlie dawning of 18G5, has had so unique a history — few, probably, so effective a career. Intellect- uall}- he was a remarkable man — many-sided, and su- perior on most sides. His mechanical genius is well known, and one of the most famous iron manufactories (the ' Novelty Works'), whose novel name has excited many a curious inquiry, originated in one of his inven- tions, which, by its economical peculiarities, was first known as a 'novelty.' He was a great financier, and enriched himself ami Union College by his masterly skill and enterprise. But these talents were but second- ary with him— pastimes of his varied mind. In the higher activities of intellect he commanded not only the respect, but the admiration of all who knew him. He was notably perspicacious, and Ids luminous mind never failed to throw at least a new light on whatsoever Sid)jrct he treated. If it were one of those problems which the higliest intellects liave hitherto failed to solve, and which are deemed insoluble— one upon which no additional exiilanatory light could be expected— still