Politically, Mr. Vant Cott began life as a Whig. He
afterwards joined the Republican party, of which he
remained a member until he died. He on occasions
stumped the State for the party and occasionally went
outside of the State for the same purpose. As a speaker,
he was vigorous, clear and incisive, and his vnAe reading
in all departments of literature gave him a diction and
style and a command of incident and of interesting facts
in the biographies of great men and in the histories of all
countries which made him an impressive and effective
orator.
Mr. Van Cott was a man of profound religious convic-
tion. He was always glad of an opportunity to testify to
the faith that was in him. His keen intellectual powers
were at one period of his life quite largely employed in
the study of philosophy and theology and kindred sub-
jects, a course which only strengthened his belief in the
truth of the Christian religion. He was deeply interested
in the c^use of education ; was a charter member of the
Brooklyn Female Academy, now the Packer Collegiate
Institute ; for many years one of its Trustees ; and he
succeeded the late Mr. A. A. Low as its President, hold-
ing the office during the remainder ot his life. He was
Vice-President of the Long Island Historical Society and
a Trustee of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences,
a charter member of the Hamilton Club, a member of the
Brooklyn Bar Association and of the Holland Society of
New York.
