he could give it, at least, original illustration, poetic re- lief, practical corollaries, that compelled all hearers to say, in the words which Addison puts in the mouth of Cato over Plato's argument on the soul, ' Tliou rea- sonest well.' He had no small amount of intellectual courage, and was not afraid of the 'bugbear' imputation of charlatanism against new oiiinions and startling tlie- ories. Some of our best evening converse with him has been upon themes transcending the usually allowed lim- its of speculation, and when his winged but ever serene mind seemed to soar with the sweep and steadiness of the eagle. But such was the strength of his religious faith, such the real humility of his piety, that we never knew him to trench with any recklessness on the mys- teries of revealed truth. As a preacher he was pre-emi- nent. The present generation has not been able to ap- [ireciate him fully in this respect, for he was past his prime, and was immersed in other duties and cares, when it began to turn a critical eye upon him. Still, in some of his latest appearances in the desk, before the Church or before his college, his transcendent power has commanded wondering admiration. He was ora- torical without being declamatory, and a more finished or perfect oratory was never heard in the American pul- pit. We have been disposed to pronounce it faultless. One of his many extraordinary talents was his memory, which, through most of his life, seemed infallible ; and it had much to do with his eloquence, for it enabled him to go almost immediately from the composition of his discourse to the desk without his manuscript, and de- liver it without the least apparent eft'ort of recollection. His most striking characteristic as a preacher w^as his perfect grace of manner, toned by a perfect graciousness (if we may so speak) of religious feeling. Strong, se- rene, dignified, beautiful in language (sometimes to or- nateuess), clear in thought and argument to transpar- ency itself, appropriate in every modulation and gesture, he impressed one as a consummate master of the art of speaking. And what one could not fail to remark was the fact (indisputable) that this perfection of manner was not at all mechanical, not at all a perfunctory ac- comi)lishment, but entirely natural — an expression of . the natural symmetry of his intellectual and moral nat- ure. No man was happier in short impromptu or ex- temporaneous addresses, but he took beaten gold into the pulpit ; he prepared his sermons studiously and prayerfidly, yet delivered them with a facility that may be characterized as altogether felicitous. And the moral iinpression of his sermons was always profound." " This remarkable man," said another, " was pre-eminently dis- tinginshed for his indomitable force of character. What- ever he decided upon he achieved, compelling all op- posing causes to give way before him. Happily this greatness of soul was controlled by Christian principles and an all-authoritative conscientiousness, else would he have been a scourge rather than a blessing to his race. But as greatness has its own peculiar faults, so these fell to him, at least in a mitigated degree. Yet those who were his pupils in the noonday of his power still re- member him with something of an idolatrous sentiment. He has, scarcely less than any contemporary, impressed his own character upon that of his age and country, and his influence will run on indefinitely. His physical frame partook somewhat of the energy of his character; and, long beyond the term of ordinary old age, death ap- proached him only \)y slow and measured stages. Peace to his spirit I honor to his memory !"' Of his last days anil hours, the Hev. Dr. Backus, who preached the funer- al sermon, said : " He was ever to the end a little child before God, most pleased to sit at Jesus' feet, and confid- ing firmly, gratefully, in the sovereignty and loving- kindness of his gracious Lord. In his dying hours, when he felt that the end could not be afar, his parting counsel and legacy to his nearest friends was: 'Fear God, and keep his commandments' — the counsel and legacy of his mother to himself, which had begun and controlled his entire religious life. When utterance
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was difficult, the spirit only not gone, he said : ' One word, one word— Jesus Christ;' and the last, the very last exclamation from his lips was, ' My covenant God.' " See Memoirs of Eliphalet Nott, D.D., LL.D., by C. Van Santvoord, D.D., with contributions and revision by Prof. Taylor Lewis (N. Y. 187G, 12mo) ; Wilson, Pres&y- iericin Hist. Almanac (1867), p. 185; Allibone, Diet, of Brit, and A mar. A uthors, s. v. ; Bishop Alonzo Potter's Ihmd-hook for Readers and Students (1845), p. 260 ; Methodist Qiutr. Rev. vii, 534; N. Amer. Rev. Ixxxv, 572; Fish, Pulpit Eloquence of the I9fh Centurtj (1857), p. 379-393; Sketches of the Lit. of the United States; London Athen. (1835), p. 716; Address at the Funeral of the Rev. Dr. Xott, by the Kev. J. T. Backus, D.D. (N. Y. 1866, 8vo) ; Drake, Diet, of Amer. Biog. s. v.; Presb. Reunion Memorial Volume, p. 124 sq. (J. H. W.)
Nott, George Frederick, D.D., a learned English divine and an accomplished scholar, was born in 1769. He studied at Ciirist Church, Oxford, and was elected fellow of All-souls. He became successively perpetual curate of Stoke Canon, Devonshire, in 1807, then vicar of Broad Windsor, Dorsetshire, which he exchanged for Woodchurch, prebendary of Winchester, in 1810, and rector of Harrietsham in 1812. He died in 1842. Dr. Nott wrote. Religious Enthusiasm considered, in Eight Sermons preached in 1802 at the I^ecture founded by John Bampton, A.M. (Oxford, 1803, 8vo) : — The Proper Mode of Studying the Scriptures : an Ordination Sermon (1811, 8vo). He also edited the works of the earl of Surrey and Thomas Wyatt, with copious illustrations (1815, 2 vols. 4to), See Darling, Cyclop. Bibliog. ii, 2216. (J.N. P.)