Bro. Daniel Coxe—The Father Of Freemasonry In America.

removal during the greater part of the time . Lord Cornbury proved to be an arbitrary and tyrannical Governor . In consequence , the Assembly petitioned the Queen for his removal , whereupon he addressed Her

Majesty in reply , and Bro . Coxe , with others , endorsed his reply . This fact drew upon the latter the hatred of the Governor ' s enemies . NotAvithstanding this fact , in 1715 , Col . Coxe Avas again elected to the Assemblyas a representative

, from Gloucester , and the following year he was chosen Speaker . Governor Hunter ' s party again becoming powerful , Coxe and his party were expelled from the Assembly , ostensibly on account of absenting themselves . At this time Col . Coxe

resided m Bristol . His friends , in testimony of their confidence in the justice of his course , raised a subscription and sent him to England , Avhere he arrived in November , 1716 , and Avas favoured by the Lord Chancellor and Lord ToAvnshend .

Governor Hunter , it Avas , AVIIO about this time wrote to Dean Swift , " Here is the finest air to live upon in the universe ; and if oar trees and birds could speak , and our Assemblymen keep silent , the finest conversationtoo . "

, The minutes of the Grand Lodge of England show that , on January 29 , 1731 , at the meeting of that Grand Body , Bro . Daniel Coxe was present , and his health was drank , as " Provincial Grand Master of North America" This fact SIIOAVS that

at that date there was no other Provincial Grand Master besides Bro . Coxe in America . This was over two years before the appointment of Bro . Henry Price as Provincial Grand Master of Massachusetts . In 1734 , Avhile Hooper Avas Chief Justice

of New Jersey , Col . Coxe was appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court , and continued to hold this high office for a period of five years , until his death . We should here allude to Bro . Goxe ' s fame as an author , for he composed two works

, one of Avhich Avas noted in its day , aud since esteemed valuable enough to be reprinted in full in the present Collections of the Historical Society of Louisiana ; and the other was not published until two years after his death . The latter Avas entitled "Collection of Voyages and lravels , London 1741 . 8 vo . " The full title of the former ( the most valuable ,

curious and interesting to readers of the present day ) is as follows : " A Description of the English Province of CAROLANA , by the Spaniards called Florida , and by the French La Louisiana —as also of the great and famous river

Meschacehe or Mississippi , the five vast navigable lakes of fresh Avater , and the parts adjacent , with an account of the commodities and their growth and production in the said Province . By DANIEL COXE . London : 1722 . "

There Avas so large a demand for this book that three additions of it Avere printed in 1722 , 1727 , and 1741 . Its purpose is worthy of explanation , as Avell as its contents .

In 1630 , Sir Robert Heath , Attorney-General o £ Charles I ., obtained a patent for the extensive region then called " Carolana , " which included the present States of Virginia , North and South Carolina , Georgia , Florida , Louisiana , and

all the country north , on both sides of the Mississippi , up as high as Kentucky . It is apparent Avhat an immense tract it was . A writer in the North American Review , for November , 1815 , in a review of Bro . Coxe's book on CAKOLANA , says : "

Probably there is no other instance on record of any other private individual pretending to such an extensive property . " Dr . Daniel Coxe ( the father of Bro . Coxe ) procured an assignment of Heath ' s Patent (\ vhich in 1663 had been declared void ) , and in 1699 , he memorialized King William in regard to it . The same year

the Attorney-General of the Crown , together Avith seven members of the Privy Council , reported , that "having examined the claim by order of the Ministry , they report to the King as their opinion that Dr . Coxe is entitled to this Province ;"

but before it Avas confirmed by Parliament , the Doctor died— -whereupon his son reneAved his claim , and attempted , in addition , to colonize CAEOLANA . To aid this purpose , he wrote and published the book to Avhich we have called

attentionentitled "Carolana . " His authorities were the Memoirs and Journals kept by various persons sent into the valley of the Mississippi by Dr , Daniel Coxe—the last expedition fitted out by him having consisted of two ships , commanded by Captain Barr , Avhich , in 1698 , Avere the first to sail up the Mississippi River to its sources .