theology at Auburn. The next seventeen years were passed in active ministry at Brooklyn, whence in 1854, owing to a throat affection, he removed to Owego, N.Y. He died at Bronxville, N.Y., on the 2nd of October 1880. Cox was a fine orator, and a speech made in Exeter Hall in 1833, in which he put the responsibility for slavery in America on the British government, made a great impression. It was he who described the appellation D.D. as a couple of “semi-lunar fardels.”
His son, Arthur Cleveland Coxe (1818–1896), who changed the spelling of the family name, graduated at the University of the City of New York in 1838 and at the General Theological Seminary in 1841. He was rector of St John’s Church, Hartford, in 1843–1854, of Grace Church, Baltimore, in 1854–1863, and of Calvary Church, New York City, in 1863. In 1863 he became assistant bishop and in 1865 bishop of western New York. He was strongly influenced by the Oxford Movement. Bishop Coxe wrote spirited defences of Anglican orders and published several volumes of verse, notably Christian Ballads (1845).
COXCIE, MICHAEL (1499–1592), Flemish painter, was born at Malines, and studied under Bernard van Orley, who probably induced him to visit Italy. At Rome in 1532 he painted the chapel of Cardinal Enckenvoort in the church of Santa Maria dell’ Anima; and Vasari, who knew him, says with truth “that he fairly acquired the manner of an Italian.” But Coxcie’s principal
occupation was designing for engravers; and the fable of Psyche in thirty-two sheets by Agostino Veneziano and the Master of the Die are favourable specimens of his skill. During a subsequent residence in the Netherlands Coxcie greatly extended his practice in this branch of art. But his productions were till lately concealed
under an interlaced monogram M.C.O.K.X.I.N. Coxcie
returned in 1539 to Malines, where he matriculated, and painted
for the chapel of the gild of St Luke the wings of an altarpiece
now in Sanct Veit of Prague. The centre of this altarpiece,
by Mabuse, represents St Luke portraying the Virgin;
the side pieces contain the Martyrdom of St Vitus and the Vision
of St John in Patmos. At van Orley’s death in 1541 Coxcie
succeeded to the office of court painter to the regent Mary of
Hungary, for whom he decorated the castle of Binche. He was
subsequently patronized by Charles V., who often coupled his
works with those of Titian; by Philip II., who paid him royally
for a copy of van Eyck’s “Agnus Dei”; and by the duke of Alva,
who once protected him from the insults of Spanish soldiery at
Malines. There are large and capital works of his (1587–1588) in
St Rombaud of Malines, in Ste Gudule of Brussels, and in the
museums of Brussels and Antwerp. His style is Raphaelesque
grafted on the Flemish, but his imitation of Raphael, whilst it
distantly recalls Giulio Romano, is never free from affectation
and stiffness. He died at Malines on the 5th of March 1592.
COXE, HENRY OCTAVIUS (1811–1881), English librarian and scholar, was born at Bucklebury, in Berkshire, on the 20th of September 1811. He was educated at Westminster school and Worcester College, Oxford. Immediately on taking his degree in 1833, he began work in the manuscript department of the British Museum, became in 1838 sub-librarian of the Bodleian, at Oxford, and in 1860 succeeded Dr Bandinel as head librarian, an office he held until his death in 1881. Having proved himself an able palaeographer, he was sent out by the British government in
1857 to inspect the libraries in the monasteries of the Levant. He discovered some valuable manuscripts, but the monks were
too wise to part with their treasures. One valuable result of his
travels was the detection of the forgery attempted by Constantine
Simonides. He was the author of various catalogues, and under
his direction that of the Bodleian, in more than 720 volumes, was
completed. He published Rogeri de Wendover Chronica, 5 vols.
(1841–1844); the Black Prince, an historical poem written in
French by Chandos Herald (1842); and Report on the Greek
Manuscripts yet remaining in the Libraries of the Levant (1858).
He was not only an accurate librarian but an active and hardworking
clergyman, and was for the last twenty-five years of his
life in charge of the parish of Wytham, near Oxford. He was
likewise honorary fellow of Worcester and Corpus Christi Colleges.
He died on the 8th of July 1881.
COXE, WILLIAM (1747–1828), English historian, son of Dr William Coxe, physician to the royal household, was born in
London on the 7th of March 1747. Educated at Marylebone
grammar school and at Eton College, he proceeded to King’s
College, Cambridge, and was elected a fellow of this society in
1768. In 1771 he took holy orders, and afterwards visited many
parts of Europe as tutor and travelling companion to various
noblemen and gentlemen. In 1786 he was appointed vicar of
Kingston-on-Thames, and in 1788 rector of Bemerton, Wiltshire.
He also held the rectory of Stourton from 1801 to 1811 and that
of Fovant from 1811 until his death. In 1791 he was made
prebendary of Salisbury, and in 1804 archdeacon of Wiltshire.
He married in 1803 Eleanora, daughter of William Shairp, consul-general
for Russia, and widow of Thomas Yeldham of St Petersburg.
He died on the 8th of June 1828.
During a long residence at Bemerton Coxe was mainly occupied in literary work. His Memoirs of Sir Robert Walpole (London, 1798), Memoirs of Horatio, Lord Walpole (London, 1802), Memoirs of John, duke of Marlborough (London, 1818–1819), Private and Original Correspondence of Charles Talbot, duke of Shrewsbury (London, 1821), Memoirs of the Administrations of Henry Pelham (London, 1829), are very valuable for the history of the 18th century. His History of the House of Austria (London, 1807, new ed. 1853 and 1873), and Memoirs of the Bourbon Kings of Spain (London, 1813), give evidence of careful and painstaking work on the part of the author. The style, however, as in all his works, is remarkably dull. His other works are mainly accounts of his travels: Sketches of the Natural, Political and Civil State of Switzerland (London, 1779), Account of the Russian Discoveries between Asia and America (London, 1780), Account of Prisons and Hospitals in Russia, Sweden and Denmark (London, 1781), Travels into Poland, Russia, Sweden and Denmark (London, 1784), Travels in Switzerland (London, 1789), Letter on Secret Tribunals of Westphalia (London, 1796), Historical Tour in Monmouthshire (London, 1801). He also edited Gay’s Fables, and wrote a Life of John Gay (Salisbury, 1797), Anecdotes of G. F. Handel and J. C. Smith (London, 1798), and a few other works of minor importance. Some of his books have been translated into French, and several have gone through two or more editions.
COXSWAIN (properly “cockswain,” and pronounced cox’n, usually shortened to “cox”; from “cock,” a small boat, and swain, a servant), in the navy, a petty officer in charge of a ship’s boat and its crew, who steers; the coxswain of the captain’s gig takes a special rank among petty officers. In the National Lifeboat Institution of Great Britain the “coxswain” is a paid permanent official on each station, who has charge of the lifeboat and house, is responsible for its care, and steers and takes command when afloat. The word is also used, generally, of any one who steers a boat.
COXWELL, HENRY TRACEY (1819–1900), English aeronaut, was born at Wouldham, Kent, on the 2nd of March 1819, the son of a naval officer. He was educated for the army, but became a dentist. From a boy he had been greatly interested in ballooning, then in its infancy, but his own first ascent was not made until 1844. In 1848 he became a professional aeronaut, making numerous public ascents in the chief continental cities.
Returning to London, he gave exhibitions from the Cremorne and subsequently from the Surrey Gardens. By 1861 he had made over 400 ascents. In 1862 in company with Dr James Glaisher, he attained the greatest height on record, about 7 m. His companion became insensible, and he himself, unable to use his frost-bitten hands, opened the gas-valve with his teeth, and made an extremely rapid but safe descent. The result of this and other aerial voyages by Coxwell and Glaisher was the making of some important contributions to the science of meteorology. Coxwell was most pertinacious in urging the
practical utility of employing balloons in time of war. He says: “I had hammered away in The Times for little less than a decade before there was a real military trial of ballooning for military purposes at Aldershot.” His last ascent was made in 1885, and he died on the 5th of January 1900.
See his My Life and Balloon Experiences (1887).
