D E S 
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D E S 
the editing of which he committed to his pupils. Its 
purpofe was to.record the mod: interefling occurrences in 
his clinical fchool, with the remarks made upon them in 
Jus lectures. While in the midft of his ufeful labours, 
lie was denounced, in 1792, to the popular focieties, un¬ 
der the cant terms of an cgotifl, an indifferent, &c. and, 
after undergoing two examinations, he was carried away 
from his theatre, in the act of giving a lefture, and com¬ 
mitted to the Luxemburg prifon. His ufefulnefs proba¬ 
bly faved him from the fate which the tyranny of the 
time brought upon fo many eminent men. He was li¬ 
berated within three days, and refumed his functions. 
On the eftablifhment of the fchool of health, he was ap¬ 
pointed clinical profeffor for external maladies ; and he 
obtained the converfion of the Eveche into an hofpital 
for chirurgical operations. The political violences of 
May, 1795, produced fuch an effeft on his mind, from 
fear of the renewal of former horrors, that he was feized 
with a fever, attended with delirium, which put an end 
to his life on the ift of June, at the age of fifty-one. As 
he died but a (liort time before the dauphin, whom he 
attended in the temple, a notion was entertained among 
the] populace that he was poifoned, in co'nfequence of 
having refufed to do any thing againft the life of that 
unhappy youth. Though this (lory was probably with¬ 
out foundation, it thews the opinion entertained by the 
public of the integrity of Delfault. The republic fet¬ 
tled a perilion upon his widow. Glory, and not emolu¬ 
ment, had always been the objeiSt of his ambition, and 
he had neglefted many opportunities of enriching him- 
felf. He was paflionately attached to his art, and was in¬ 
different to other pleafures and purfuits. His temper was 
ardent, and rather violent, but his fentiments were ele¬ 
vated and noble. He left behind him a, work entitled 
Traite des Maladies chirurgicales, & des Operations qui leur con- 
viennent, two vols. 8vo. 
DES'SE,/! [deis, oldFr.] A foot-ftool, whether only 
fixt to the front of a chair at bottom, or covering part of 
a room: 
Ne ever durft her eyes from ground uprear, 
Ne ever once did looke up from her dcjfe. Speifer. 
DESSE'RT,y. \_deffcrte, Fr.J The laft courfe at an 
entertainment; the fruit or fweetmeats fet on the table 
after the meat: 
At your dcjfert bright pewter comes too late, 
When your firft courfe was well ferv'd up in plate. King. 
DESSOU'BRE, a river of France, which runs into the 
Doubs at St. Hypolite. 
DESTAKTUB'DE, a Tartarian town of Siberia : for¬ 
ty-eight miles fouth-wefl of Yakutfk. 
To DES'TINATE, v. a. \_dcfino, Lat.] To defign for 
any particular end or purpofe.—Birds are dejlinatcd to fly 
among the branches of trees and bufnes’. Ray . 
DESTINA'TION,/! Tire purpofe for which any thing 
is appointed ; the ultimate defign.—The palfages through 
which fpirits are conveyed to the members, being almoft 
infinite, and each of them drawn through fo many mean¬ 
ders, it is wonderful that they (hould perform their regu¬ 
lar dejlinations without lofing their way. Glanville. 
To DES'TINE, v. a. [defitio , Lat.] To doom ; to de¬ 
vote; to appoint unalterably to any ftate or condition : 
Wherefore ceafe we then ? 
Say they who counfel war: we are decreed, 
Referv’d, and defin'd to eternal woe ; 
Whatever doing, what can we fuffer more ? ‘ Milton. 
To appoint to any ufe or purpofe.—Too thin blood 
ftrays into the immediately fubordinate veffels, which 
are defined to carry humours fecreted from the blood. 
Arbuthnot. —To devote ; to doom to punifliment or mi- 
fery ; ufed abfolutely : 
May heav’n around this defin’d head 
The choiceft of its curfes filed, 
Vol. V, No. 3120 
To fix unalterably: 
The infernal judge’s dreadful pow’r 
From the dark urn (hall throw thy defin'd hour. Prior. 
The DES'TINIF.S, or Fates, according to the poets, 
are three deities : Clotho, who, as they feign, holds the 
diftaff; Lachefis, which draws out the thread of man’s 
life ; and Atropos, who cuts it off at death. Thefe 
names are given by Linnceus to three defiructive fpecies 
of viper. See the article Coluber, vol. iv. p. 795. 
DES'TINY, f. [definee , Fr.] The;power that fpins 
the life, and determines the fate of living beings : 
Thou art neither like thy fire br dam ; 
But, like a foul mif-fliapen ftigmatic, 
Mark'd by the definies to be avoided. Shakefpeare. 
Fate ; invincible neceffity : 
Who can turn the dream of defi.ny. 
Or break the chain of ftrong neceffity, 
Which faff is tied to Jove’s eternal feat ? Spcnfcr , 
Doom ; condition in future time : 
At the pit of Acheron 
Meet me j’ th’ morning:, thither he 
Will come to know his definy. ■ Shakefpeare. 
DES'TlTUTE, adj. [defitutus, Lat.] Forfahen; aban¬ 
doned : with of. —To forfake the true God of heaven, is 
to fall into all fuch evils upon the face of the earth, as 
men, either defitute of grace divine, may commit, or un- 
protedled from above, may endure. Hooker. —Abjedt ; 
friendlefs.—He will regard the prayer of the defitute, and 
not defpife their prayer. Pfalm cii. 17.—In want of: 
Take the deftin’d way 
To find the regions defitute of day. Dryden. 
DESTITU'TION,_/'. Want; the (late in which fome- 
thiog is wanted : applied to perfons.—That definition in 
food and cloathing is fuch an impediment, as, till it be 
removed, fuffereth not the mind of man to admit any 
other care. Hooker. 
DBSTOU'CHES (Philip Nericault), an eminent writer 
of French comedy, born in 1680, of a reputable family, 
at Tours. Being defiined for the law, lie was early fent 
to Paris for literary improvement; but the confequences 
of a love affair, in which he engaged at the age of lixteen,. 
made it neceifiry for him to quit his lituation. He found 
no better refource than entering as a private foldier into 
a regiment under orders for Spain. He was prefent at 
the fiege of Barcelona, and narrowly efcaped being bu¬ 
ried under a mine. His fubfequeht adventures for fome 
time are not well known ; but it is fuppofed that he en¬ 
tered into a provincial company of players, in which fi- 
tuation he vilited Swilfcrland. A talent for poetry began 
at this time to develope itfelf, and he ventured to (ub- 
mit fome of his compel! tions to the judgment of Boileau. 
He compofed a comedy, the Curieux Impertinent, which 
was afted with applaufe in Svvillerland, and after¬ 
wards in France. While he was at Soleure he attracted 
the notice of the marquis de Puyfieux, ambaffador from 
France to tire Cantons, who difeerned in him talents fu- 
perior to the ftation he then occupied. The marquis 
made him his fecretary, and obtained for him court fa¬ 
vours which placed him in a refpeftable condition. On 
returning to Paris he purfued the career of dramatic 
writing, and fucceffively brought out the comedies of 
L’lug-rat, L'Irrefolu, and Le Medi/ant. Thefe raifed him to 
a high rank among the writers of the time. The regent 
duke of Orleans, who efteemed him both as a literary 
character, and a man of bulinefs, fent him to England in 
1717, as afliftant to the abbe Dubois, in the negotiations 
carried on between the two courts. After the departure 
of Dubois, Deflouches remained as lole refident, which 
poll he occupied fix or feven years. He married in Eng¬ 
land, but circumftances obliged him to keep the connec¬ 
tion fecret. He gave a proof of his filial duty, by fend- 
9 1 ‘ ing. 
Prior o 
