656 



DEVEREUX DEVIL. 



her refusal to renew to him a monopoly of sweet 

 wines so irritated him, Umt lie indulged himself in 

 freedoms of speech conceriiiii" her, which she could 

 never forget. He also carried on a secret corre- 

 spondence with the king of Scotland, the object of 

 which was, to procure a public declaration of his 

 right of succession to the English throne ; and he 

 would liave engaged his friend, lord Mountjoy, de- 

 puty of Ireland, to bring over troops to compel this 

 measure. He then entered into a conspiracy to seize 

 on the queen's person, remove his enemies, and settle 

 n new plan of government. Believing tliat this was 

 I'.IM -<>\ ered, he endeavoured to raise the city of Lon- 

 don in his favour : here, however, he was disap- 

 pointed ; for, instead of meeting with friends, he was 

 proclaimed a traitor, aflfl the streets were barricadoed 

 against his return. He was soon invested by the 

 queen's forces, and obliged to surrender at discretion. 

 1 1 e \v;is committed to the Tower, with the earl of 

 Southampton, his chief adherent, and a jury of peers 

 was appointed for their trial. Being found guilty, he 

 received his sentence like a man prepared for his fate. 

 The queen long hesitated as to signing the warrant 

 for his execution, but, being persuaded by his ene- 

 mies that he wished to die, and interpreting his si 

 lence into obstinacy, at length signed it : and the earl 

 was executed within the Tower, on the 25th of Feb- 

 ruary, 1601. In the height of his favour, he Irnd 

 received a ring from the queen, as a pledge, on the 

 return of which she would pardon any offence he 

 might commit. This ring he is said to have intrusted 

 to the countess of Nottingham, his relation, but the 

 wife of his enemy, the admiral, who would not suffer 

 her to deliver it to the queen, and thereby the prof- 

 fered clemency was frustrated. The countess, on 

 her death-bed, having confessed the secret to the 

 queen, the latter was greatly agitated, and told her 

 *' that God might forgive her, but she never could." 

 Essex was rash, violent, and presumptuous, but at 

 the same time brave, generous, and affectionate. He 

 was the friend and patron of literature, and wrote 

 well himself in prose, and attempted verse, though 

 without much success. He erected a monument to 

 Spenser, gave an estate to Bacon, and encouraged 

 Wotton and other men of learning. His fete has form- 

 ed the subject of four tragedies. 



DEVEREUX, ROBERT, earl of Essex, son of the 

 preceding, was born in 1592. He was entered at 

 Merton college, hi his tenth year, and, in 1603, king 

 James restored him to his hereditary honours. He 

 was betrothed, at the age of 14, to lady Frances 

 iloward, but the marriage was not consummated un- 

 til his return from his travels. The affections of the 

 young countess had, in the mean time, been gained 

 by James's unworthy favourite, Carr, earl of Somer- 

 set ; the consequence of which was, a scandalous suit 

 asramst the earl of Essex for impotency. A divorce 

 followed, and the lady married Somerset. In 1620, 

 Essex joined the earl of Oxford, in an expedition to 

 the Palatinate, and, in 1624, commanded one of the 

 English regiments raised for the United Provinces. 

 On the accession of Charles I., he was employed as 

 vice-admiral in an expedition against Spain ; and af- 

 ter a second marriage, in which the conduct of the 

 lady rendered a divorce necessary, he dedicated liim- 

 ss\f solely to public life. In 1635, he was second in 

 command of a fleet equipped against France and Hol- 

 land, and, in 1639, was made lieutenant-general of 

 the army sent against the Scottish rebels. His ser- 

 vices were coldly received, until, in 1641, popular 

 measures being thought necessary, he was made lord 

 cliamberlain. At this time, such was his popularity, 

 Iwth parties strenuously sought to gain him : the 

 king made him lieutenant-general of all liis armies 

 south of the Trent, the house of lords made him chair- 



man of their standing committee, and, when the peo- 

 ple became tumultuous, the house, of commons re- 

 quested a guard under his command. When the king 

 retired from the capital, he required his household 

 nobles to attend him. which Essex declining to do, 

 was deprived of Ins employments. This step fixed 

 I mn in opposition, and, in 1 642, he accepted the com- 

 mand of the parliamentary army. He probably 

 imagined the contest might be terminated without any 

 radical cliange of government, as he always seemed 

 attached to the principles of the constitution. He 

 commanded at the battle of Edgehill, captured Read- 

 ing, raised the siege of Gloucester, avid fought the 

 first battle of Newbury. His want of success, in 

 1644, in the west, and the inclination he showed for 

 peace, began at length to lower his interest with the 

 parliamentary party ; anil, the self-denying ordinance 

 tin-owing him out of command, he resigned his com- 

 mission with visible discontent. He died suddenly, 

 in September, 1646, and was buried in Westminster 

 abbey, with a public funeral. 



DEVERON ; a river of Aberdeenshire, rising in 

 the parish of Cabrach, which, after running a course 

 of fifty miles, and forming the boundaries between 

 this county and the sliire of Banff, falls into the sea at 

 Bauff. The salmon fishery in tlu's stream is said to 

 produce an annual income of more tlian .2000. 



DEVIATION. In the law of marine insurance, 

 deviation is an unnecessary departure from the usual 

 course of the voyage insured. Necessary causes of 

 departure from the customary line, are stress of wea- 

 ther, want of repair, joining convoy, danger from an 

 enemy, mutiny, &c. ; and, even in these cases, the 

 shortest and easiest courses must be taken, or a de- 

 viation will be incurred. Deviation, from the moment 

 at which it commences, discharges the insurer from 

 all subsequent responsibility, and entitles lu'm to re- 

 tain the premium. 



DEVICE, or BADGE, in heraldry ; a name com- 

 mon to all figures, ciphers, cliaracters, rebuses, mot- 

 toes, &c., which, by their allusions to the names of 

 persons, of families, &c., denote their qualities, nobi- 

 lity, or the like. Device, in this sense, is of a much 

 older standing than heraldry itself; being that which 

 first gave rise to armorial ensigns. Thus the eagle 

 was the device of the Roman empire. S.P.Q.R. was 

 the device of the Roman people, and still continues to 

 be what is called the escutcheon of the city of Rome. 

 The first devices were mere letters placed on the 

 borders of liveries, housings, and banners, and at 

 length on shields. Thus the K was the device of the 

 French kings of the name of Charles, from Charles V. 

 to Cliarles IX. Badges, impresses, and devices were 

 greatly in vogue in England, from the reign of king 

 Edward I. until that of queen Elizabeth, when they 

 sank into disuse. 



Device is now taken, in a more limited sense, for an 

 emblem, or a representation of some natural body, 

 with a motto, or sentence, applied in a figurative 

 sense. Thus a young nobleman, of great courage 

 and ambition, bore for his device, in a carousal at the 

 court of France, a rocket mounted in the air, with 

 this Italian motto, Poco duri, purc/ie nfinnalzi (May 

 I continue but a short tune, provided 1 mount high). 

 A device is, therefore, a painted metaphor. Devices 

 are used on corns, counters, seals, shields, triumplial 

 arches, artificial fire-works, &c. The French liave 

 distinguished themselves in the invention of devices, 

 especially since the time of cardinal Mazarin, who 

 had a great fondness for them. The Italians have 

 reduced the making of devices to an art, and laid 

 down laws and rides for tins purpose. 



DEVIL. Most of the old religions of the East ac- 

 knowledged a host of demons, who, like their gods, 

 were not originally considered, in a moral point of 





