Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/161

* COKE. 129 COLA-NUT. and Essex in 1601, of Sir Walt.er R.aleifili in 1603 (in which he exhibited a brvital rancor and bitterness), and of the Gunpowder plotters in 1G05. He held this office until KiOO, wlicn lie was appointed Chief Justice of thet'onuuon Pleas, the duties of which position he dischar^jied in a manner that secured for him a -jreat reputa- tion. Upright and independent, with a high no- tion of the dignity and importance of his office, he did not, in an age of judicial sycophancy, hesitate to oppose any illegal encroachnu'nt by royalty. At the suggestion of Bacon (between whom and Coke there was a long-standing hos- tility). James I., in order to bring him over, ap- pointed Coke, in 1613, Chief Justice of the King's Bench, and shortly afterwards Privy Couid- eilor. But here lie proved eqiiall.y incorrigible, among other things maintaining, in the Com- mendams case, that the J.ing had no |)ower to stay the proceedings in a court of justice, even after his more pliable colleagues had retracted and begged the royal pardon on their knees for having entertained and expressed that opinion. This was too much. Coke, in a few months (November, 1616), was relieved from his Chief- justiceship. His ardent and unllinching sup- port of liberal measures in Parliament, especial- ly of the right of freedom of debate, soon brought him into further trouble with the Court party, and in 1621-22 he .suffered nine months' im- prisonment in the Tower. In the third Parlia- ment of Charles I. (1628) Coke took an active part in framing the celebrated Petition of Right, and it was in a great measure owing to his advocacv that the Lords were induced to agree to it. He died September 3, 1634. He had an extraordinary popularity, and his utterances and courage did much to contribute to the final result in the struggle between the Crown and the Commons. Yet he was of an intolerant disposition, and in religious matters and in his fear of the growth and influence of the Papal power he Avas fanatical. He is now best known for his law treatise. Coke Upon Littleton : or, the First lusiitute, a work of extraordinary learning and of great acumen, which is still, perhaps, the most influential and authoritative treatise on Englisli law. His other works are the t<ccond. Third, and Fourth Institutes; The Complete Coptiholder: and Reading on Fines; while his collection of law reports, which made an epoch in the history' of law on their ap])earance. are still of great value to the pro- fession. Consult : -Johnson. Life of Sir Ed- uard Coke (2d ed.. London. 1845), which is somewhat untrustworthy: also Woolrych, The Life of Hir Edinird Cole (London. 1826) ; and the sketches of his life in Foss. Judges of Eng- land, vol. vi. (London, 1857), and in Campbell, Ttie Lires of the Chief Justices of England, etc.. vol. i. (London, 1849). COKE, TnOM.s (1747-IS14). The first bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Clinrch. He was born at Brecon. Wales; was educated at Ox- ford, and took orders in the Chiirch of England in 1770. About 1772 he was converted, and .showed great fervor; in 1770 he met Wesley for the first time, and after that began open-air preaching. In consequence of his revivalism, ho was dismissed from his curacy of South Pether- ton, and attached himself to the ilethodist So- ciety. In 1782 he was appointed president of the Irish Conference, and two years later he was made superintendent for America, with i)ower to confer ordination, by the laying on of hands ad- ministered by John Wesley and two other clergy- men of the Church of England. Charles Wes- ley, who had not been aware of the ceremony, and heartily disapproved of it, wrote the well- known epigram: So easily are bishops made By man's or woman's whim ; AVesle.v Iiis liands on Coky hatli laid. But wlio laid hands on liini ',' In 17S7. both Coke and Asbury, whom Coke had ordained, assinued the title of bishop, nuich to .John Wesley's displeasure. They trav- eled together among the various conferences until the middle of 1785, when Coke returned to England. He made in all nine visits to America, and spent the rest of his life in active mission- ary work, in personal visitation in the United Kingdom and in America, and in the encourage- ment of enterprises for the Cliristianizing of Asia and Africa. After Wesley's death (.'oke was secretar}' of the British Conference, and. with Asbury, lie edited T]ie Doetrine and Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church of America (1787). In 1813 he apjdied unsuccessfully to Lord Liverpool and William Wilberforce to be appointed bishop for India. He was consumed with a desire to spread Christianity in India, and as the Government was unfavorable to missions by Dissenters there, he believed he could work more effectively in connection with the Church of England. to which. like many Jlcthodist ministers, he himself belonged ; but when he went, he repre- sented the Conference. In the same year (1813) he sailed for Ceylon, lint died of apoplexy on the voy- age, Jlay 3, 1814. He was of a very energetic dispo- sition, and of remarkable executive abilities. He had tile advantage of considerable personal means, which he spent freely in the cause, .^niong his works are a Life of John Wesley (1792) : a com- mentarv on the Scriptures (6 vols., 1803-08); Histor!/ of the West Indies (3 vols.. 1808-11 >. lor his life, consult Etheridge (London, 1860). COKES, BARTiiOLOirEW. A well-drawn pic- ture of a simpleton in Jonson's Bartholomew Fa ir. COL, kol (Fr., neck). In geography, a de- pression or pass in a mountain range. In those parts of. the Alps where the French language prevails, the passes are usually named cols — as the Col de Balme, the Col du Geant, etc. COLADA, ko-lii'Dii. One of the two swords of the Cid, taken from the Count of Barcelona. COLA-NUT, or KOLA-NUT. The seed- not properly the nut — of Cola acuminata, a large tree of the natural order StercnliaceiT'. na- tive to western tropical .frica, cultivated in the West Indies, Brazil, and other tropical coun- tries, where it has, to some extent, become nat- uralized. The seeds average about an inch in length, ai'e brown or reddish-gray, sliglitly mot- tled, have an odor resembling nutmeg, and a liitter flavor when fresh, which becomes mildly aromatic with age. In the tropics, especially in the Sudan, where they are known as guru-nuts, they are employed as a stimulant and as a reme- dy for tropical diarrluea. The nuts contain from 0.7 per cent, to 2 per cent, of alkaloiil caffeine (q.v.), and small amounts of tannin and theo- bromine. According to Knebel and to Ililger, fresli cola-nut probably cont;iins no caffeine at