DEC, 
can be applicable to differerit fpecien of cipher ; ard, there- 
fore, none iad the above authors will be of much ufe in de- 
veloping new and intricate oe of fecret-writing, 
Waillis, hes great mathematician, remarks very juftly, oe 
** all perfons are not qualified or capable of acquiring the 
art of deciphering, an that a certain degree of acumen 1s ree 
1 for this pur 
DE’ ee S 
France, 
es t oy oa vee 
anton, “which has an extent of 2 kiliom 
see o communes, and a dig a 2686 individuals, 
This place has an mold caftle, a priory, two convents ; it 
is feated on a rocky ifland near ie conflux of the Airon and 
Loire, in Bazois, a diftriét ea tting of vallies lying along 
the hills of Morvan, and abounding a Ww ie and pafturage ; 
8 leagues from Nevers, and a S.E. rl 
DECISIVE Oaru, in oe ie. "See SacRaMEntuM 
ae ee 
US, Mus, P., in Biography, ee for 
ae a patriotifm, was a military tribune of plebeian 
rank in the army of C. Coffus about the — B.C. 435 
when it was aa into imminent danger of ruin by the 
Samnites. Deciu ethod of extricating his country- 
men ; he propo eed his plan to the general, which was agreed 
upon, and ar being inftantly adopted, was crowned with 
compiete fucce e was received by the general and fol- 
diers as their del Serer, 7 was saapeatel a his lege 
and rowefs, with en aon, an and 
oxen; 
; from the mene with an obiidional crown 0 
a civic crown of oak from his own 
To himfclf he referved only the crowns, and 
dittributed the other prefents among hisbraveeomrades. Two 
years dene ye was created conful with Manlius Tor- 
enemy’s eepon and wa 
honourably interred. 
Ecius, Mus, P., fon of the preceding, was four times 
appointed conful, and was, during his fecond confulate, 
B. 08, very fuccefsful againft the iene: Five 
years “afterwards he was eleGed cenfor with Fab bius 
e 
When Decius had done ali to rally his 
troops without fuccefs, he determined to imitate the pa- 
triotifm of his father by a voluntary devotion of his life to 
his country’s welfare. Ee called upon the pontiff to perform 
to which Decius added the folemn 
prayer, “that he might carry before him terror and flight, 
blood and flaughter, the wrath of thé celeftial and incpeal 
deities, and that on fame say might witnefs his own de- 
ftrution, and that of the Gauls and Samnites,’’ He then 
.yufhed into the midft of the es and was Dain. By this 
f A.D. 201 
DEC 
aé& on the part of the conful, the Romans were excited to 
n 
never excelled, a mat equalled. Rom. Hift 
Decivs, enaaee of ae was born in pete 
. We haveno particular account of his 
he probably was advanced to rank of copful ‘for | his 
fuperior talents. By-the orineies Philip he was fent, much 
againft his inclination, to command i 
and Pannonia, which had been guilty of revolt. 
ftead of purfuing the orders of his mafter, he affumed to 
himfelf the imperial title and dignity. He is faid to have 
been forced to this meafure by the difaffzcted troops. Phi- 
lip, however, did not admit the — but immediately 
marched againit the ufurper ; they ne na, and 
a defperate battle enfued, in which phil ‘p was defeated, and 
killed either in the field, or put to death after he fell into 
the conqueror’s power. his was in the year 240, which 
m 
a5 
c 
of Ceefar. v 
during the two years which it continued, he iyaicte | upon 
the Chriftians the mo cruel perlecutions, in which he 
who had embraced the new religion. 
Decius apanae a good reputation: he diftinguifhed him- 
felf by an expedition againit the Perfians. . invafion of 
the Goths called forth all the energies of Decius; after 
much mifckief they — for ‘meas ey Decins was defirous 
a blow: 
4 ie Sad Dec ius was {lai 
m fall, exc timed, @ 
difcouraged, it is the lofs of one man only,” and then rufhed 
forward to revenge his death. He was, with the greater 
part of his troops, entangled in a morafs, where furrounded 
by the enemy, = per on under a fhower of darts. He 
died in 251, aged 50 years. Univ. Hitt. 
ECK of a frip, from decker, Dan n. ¢o cover; a kind of 
planked floor, conneGting the fides, and ferving as different 
platforms to fupport the artillery, to lodge the men, and to 
referve the cargo in merchant-veffels. 
ip is faid to have two or three decks, when it contains 
two or three ftories. Ships of the firft and fecond rates 
are furnifhed with three whole decks, reaching from the ftem 
to the ftern, befides a fore-caftle and a quarter-deck, which 
extend from the ftern to the main-maft. There is alfo ano- 
ther deck above the hinder part of the quarter-deck, called 
the poop, and ferving as a rogf for the captain’s cabbin or 
couch. nferior fhips of the iine of battle have two cecks 
fhips are 
next above it, and it alfo bears the heavieft cannon. = - 
The decks are formed and fuftained by te eams, the 
clamps, the water-ways, the carlings, the wedges, the knees, 
and two rows of {mail pillars ale ftanchio 
ECK, PJu/h, is one that lies even in a foi Tae. fare and 
aft, from fen to fter 
The feamen fay, a. ideas lies cambering, when it doth not 
lie level, but higher at the middle than at either end. 
cambered dec 
i 
whi er lying aground on fo sees 
where pee her aft or ice part touch It, and fro 
v 
