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peace but upon the terms, of his furrendering at difcre- 
tion. The barbarian then attempted to take off by trea¬ 
chery a foe vvhom he was afraid to meet, but the affaf- 
fins vvhom he fent were difcovered and put to death. 
He then by perfidy got into his power Longinus, a fa¬ 
vourite officer of Trajan’s, and endeavoured to make ufe 
of his capture as a means of obtaining favourable terms. 
Longinus bravely freed His mailer from the difficulty by 
taking poifon. Trajan then built his famous bridge over 
the Danube, puflied into Dacia, and took pofTeffion of its 
capital and almoft the whole country. Decebalus in de- 
fpair put an end to his own life, in the year 105, and 
with him terminated the independence of Dacia, which 
thenceforth became a Roman province. His gold and 
other treafures, which he had concealed in a pit dug be¬ 
neath the bed of a river, the courfe of which he had di¬ 
verted for the purpofe, were difcovered to Trajan by one 
of His confidents, and paid the expence of the war. 
DECE'IT,y. [ deceptio , Lat.] Fraud; a cheat; a fal¬ 
lacy ; any practice by which falfhood is made to pafs for 
truth.—My lips (hall not fpeak wickednefs, nor my 
tongue utter deceit. Job, xxvii. 4.—Stratagem; artifice: 
His demand 
Springs not from Edward’s well-meant honed love, 
But from deceit, bred by neceffity. Shakefpeare. 
DECEIT, f. in law, a fubtle trick or device, where- 
unto may be referred all manner of craft and collufion, 
ufed to deceive and defraud another, by any means what- 
foever, which hath no other or more proper name than 
deceit to dillinguifli the offence. There is a writ called a 
zurit of deceit, that lies for one that receives injury or da- 
(fi mage from him that doth any thing deceitfully in the 
name of another perfon, by which he is deceived or in¬ 
jured; which writ is either original or judicial. Reg. 
Orig. 112. Deceit is an offence at common law, and by 
fhitute ; and all practices of defrauding or endeavouring 
to defraud another of his right, are punifliable by fine 
and imprifonment; and if cheating, by pillory. Ser¬ 
jeants, counfellors, attornies, and others doing any man¬ 
ner of deceit, are to be imprifoned a year and a day ; alfo 
pleaders by deceit (hall be expelled the court. 3 Edzo. I. 
c. 29. Jf a fine be levied by deceit, or if one recover 
land by deceit, the fine, and the recovery, fhall be void. 
3 Rep. 77. and if a man be attorney for another in a real 
adtion againft the demandant, and afterwards by covin 
between fuch attorney and the demandant, the attorney 
makes default, by which the land is loft, the tenant who 
loft the land ftiall have a writ of deceit againft the attor¬ 
ney. F. N. B. 96. So writ of deceit lies to fet afide a fine 
and recovery in the common-pleas, of lands in ancient 
demefne. 2 Wilf. 17. 
In a pracipe quod reddat, if the flieriff return the tenant 
fummoned, where he was not fummoned, by which the 
defendant lofeth his land by default at the grand cape re¬ 
turned; the tenant ftiall have a writ of deceit againft him 
who recovered, and againft the fheriff for his falfe re¬ 
turn; and by that writ the tenant fhall be reftored unto 
his land again : and the fheriff fhall be putiifhed for his 
falfity. F. N. B. 97. If a man bring a writ of deceit againft 
him that recovers in the firft action, and the flieriff return 
him fummoned, upon which for n'on-fummons in that 
adtion on finding the fame the recovery is reverfed ; in 
this cafe the defendant ftiall not have writ of deceit to 
recover the land again, if he were not fummoned; but 
he fhall have his remedy againft the fheriff. R0l.Abr.621. 
And where debt was brought, and the defendant pleaded 
in abatement, and the plea was over-ruled, the attornies 
on both fides by deceit between them, to the end the 
plaintiff might recover his debt, entered another judg¬ 
ment when it fhould have been a refpondeas oujler ; and it 
was held that the writ of deceit would not lie to reverfe 
the record, but only to recover damages. If in a fuit 
or adtion, another perfon fhall come into court and pre¬ 
tend he is party to the fuit, and fo let judgment be had, 
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or forne other damage done to the party himfelf; or if 
one have caufe to have an adtion, and another brings it 
in his name, and lets judgment go by non-fuit, or the 
like, the injured party may have this writ of deceit. 
F. N. B. 96. Marck^Z. If any one forge a ftatute, &:c. in 
my name, and fueth a capias thereupon, for which I am 
arrefted, I lhall have a writ of deceit againft him that 
forged it, and againft him who fued forth the writ of ca¬ 
pias, &c. And if a perfon procure another to fue an 
adtion againft me to trouble me, I fhall have a writ of 
deceit. F. N. B. 96. 
There are many frauds and deceits provided againft by 
ftatute, relating to artificers, bakers, brewers, victuallers, 
falfe weights and meafures, See. which are liable to pe¬ 
nalties and punifliment in proportion to the offence com¬ 
mitted. And writ of deceit lies in various cafes, for not 
performing a bargain ; or not felling good commodities. 
See. 1 Injl. 357. On almoft all occasions, where a perfon 
is deceived or injured, and where anciently remedy was 
fought by the writ of deceit, an action on the cafe for 
damages, in nature of a writ of deceit, is now moreufu- 
ally brought. And indeed it is the only remedy for a 
lord of a manor in or out of ancient demefne, to reverfe 
a fine or recovery had in the king’s court, of lands lying 
within his jurifdidtion, which would otherwife be thereby 
turned into frank-fee. And this may be brought by the 
lord againft the parties and cefui que ufe of fuel) fine and 
recovery ; and thereby he ftiall obtain judgment not only 
for damages, which are ufually remitted, but alfo to re¬ 
cover his court and jurifdidtion over the lands, and to 
annul the former proceedings. 3 Lev. 415. Rajl. Ent. 100, 
Latzp. 711. 
DECEIT'FUL, adj. Fraudulent; full of deceit: 
I grant him bloody, 
Luxurious, avaricious, falfe, deceitful. Shakefpeare. 
DECEIT'FULLY, adv. Fraudulently; with deceit.—. 
Exercife of form may be deceitfully difpatched of courfe. 
Wot ton. 
DECEIT'FULNESS,/. The quality of being fraudu¬ 
lent ; tendency to deceive.'—The care of this world, and 
the deceitfdnefs of riches, choke the word, and lie be- 
cometh unfruitful. Mat. xiii. 22. 
DECEIV'ABLE, adj. Subjedt to fraud ; expofed to 
impofture : 
How wouldft thou life me now, blind, and thereby 
Deceivable, in moft things as a child 
Helplefs ? hence eafily contemn’d and fcorn’d, 
And laft negledted. Milton. 
Subjedt to produce error; deceitful.—He received no. 
thing but fair promifes, which proved deceivable. Hayw. 
O everfailing truft 
In mortal ftrength ! and oh, what not in man 
Deceivable and vain.! . Milton. 
DECEIV'ABLENESS,y. Liablenefs to be deceived, 
or to deceive.—He that has a great patron, has the ad¬ 
vantage of his negligence and dcceivablencfs. Government of 
the Tongue. 
To DECEI'VE, v. a. \_decipio , Lat.] To caufe to mif- 
take ; to bring into error; to impofe upon.—Some have 
been deceived into an opinion, that there was a divine 
right of primogeniture to both eftate and power. Locke. 
.—To delude by ftratagem. To cut oft'from expedtation, 
‘ with of before the thing.-—.The Turkifti general, deceived 
of his expectation, withdrew his fleet twelve miles off. 
Knolles. —To mock ; to fail; 
They rais’d a feeble cry with trembling notes. 
But the weak voice deceiv'd their gafping throats. Dryden „ 
To deprive by fraud or Health.—Plant fruit-trees in large 
borders, and fet therein fine flowers but thin and fparing- 
ly, left they deceive the trees. Bacon. 
’ DECEIV'£R,y One that leads another into error; a 
cheat: 
Sigh 
