DEV 
learned them of them, or devifed them among themfelves, 
is very doubtful. Spenfer, 
Ye fons of art, one curious piece devife, 
From whofe conftrudture motion fhall arife. Blachnore. 
To plan ; to fcheme.—Behold I frame evil againft you, 
and devife a device again!! you. -Jcr. xiii. 11. 
To DEVI'SE, v. n. To confider; to contrive; to lay 
plans; .to form fchemes : anciently with of. — Devif but 
how you’ll ufe him when he comes, and let us two devife 
to bring him thither. Shakefpeare. 
Her merry fit fhe frefhly ’gan to rear, 
And did of joy and jollity devife , 
Herfelf to cherifh and her gueft to chear. Spenfer. 
To treat : 
There chaunced to the prince’s hand to rife 
An auncient booke bight Briton Moniments, 
That of that hind’s fir ft conqueft did devife, Spenfer. 
DEVI'SE, /! [devifer, Fr. to divide or fort into par¬ 
cels.] A gift of lands, See. by a laft will and teftament. 
The giver is called the devifor ; and he to whom the 
lands.are given, the devifec. A devife in writing is, in 
conftruCtion of law, no deed, but an inftrument by vvliich 
lands are conveyed. The word was formerly particularly 
applied to bequefts of land ; but is now generally ufed 
for the gift of any legacies whatever. For the law re¬ 
lating to devifes, as well of real as perfonal eftates, fee 
the article Will. 
DEVI'SER,A contriver; an inventer.—The au¬ 
thors of ufeful inventions, the devifers of wholefome 
laws, as were the philofophers of ancient times, were 
honoured as the fathers and prophets of their country. 
Grew. 
DEVISO'R,/ [Inlaw.] He that makes a devife.— 
In devifes of lands fubfeription is now abloiutely necef- 
iary by ftatute, in order to identify a conveyance, which 
in its nature can never be fet up till after the death or 
the devifor. Blackfone. 
DE'VITABLE, adj. [devitabilh, Lat.] Poflible to be 
avoided ; avoidable. 
DEVITA'TION, f. [ devitatio , Lat.] The aft of ef- 
caping or avoiding. 
DEVI'ZES, a large and populous town in Wiltfhire, 
diftant eighty-feven miles and a half from London, feven 
from Caine, ten from Chippenham, and twenty-two from 
Salilbury. Devizes, which probably derives its name 
from the Latin word divifa, fignifying divifion, and fup- 
pofed to have been conferred upon this town from its 
being anciently divided between the king and the bifiiop 
of Salilbury, is a town of great antiquity, fuppofed by 
Dr. Stnkeley to have been the Punctuobice ot Ravenus. 
The Romans inclofed it with a vallum and ditch ; in the 
Lift of which the inhabitants have made a road almoft 
round the town ; but in feveral places both the ditch 
and vallum are ftill vifible ; and took in the cattle, which 
was originally a Roman work, ereCted in.a fine fituation, 
on a fmall eminence, round which many remains of the 
cattle are ttill to be feen. Many Roman coins of different 
emperors have been found in the neighbourhood ot De¬ 
vizes, with pots and earthen veffels, fuppofed to be Ro¬ 
man. Juft without the town, in a place called the Green, 
a large urn full of Roman coins was difeovered in 1714.; 
and near the fame fpot were found, under the ruins of an 
ancient building, feveral brafs ftatues of heathen deities, 
fuppofed to have remained there ever fince the year 234, 
when the Roman troops were called out of Britain. 
They confifted of a Jupiter Ammon, about four inches 
long, weighing about four ounces : Neptune with his 
trident, the prongs of which were much fiiorter than 
they are ufually reprefented ; this figure was about four 
inches in length, and weighed four ounces : a Bacchus, 
of the fame weight and dimenfions : a Vulcan, fomewhat 
lefs than the above figures: a Venus, about fix inches in 
length, with the left arm broken off; a Pallas, with her 
Vo l. V. No. 313. 
D E V 777- 
helmet, fhield, and fpear, between three and four inches, 
in length : a Hercules, about four inches long, weighing 
fix ounces and a half. Befides thefe, were found a Mer¬ 
cury, a wolf with Romulus, and Remus, a veftal virgin, 
fom? Egyptian deities, and a coin of the emperor Alex- 
ander Severus. 
Devizes is a corporate borough, by dharter from 
Charles I. The corporation confifts of a mayor, recor¬ 
der, ten magiftrates, and twenty-four common-.ccuncil- 
men, who have the liberty of making what number of 
burgeffes they pleafe, all of whom have the right of vot¬ 
ing at elections for members in parliament. Here are two 
large churches, and a chapel; a meeting-lvoufe for dif- 
fenters ; and a very good charity-fchool. The markets 
are on Mondays and Thurfdays ; that on Mondays is for 
butcher’s meat only ; but that on Thurfdays is well fup- 
plied with poultry, corn, wool, and cattle. In the mar¬ 
ket-place is a monumental ftonc, on which is recorded a 
molt awful inftance of divine vengeance, inflicted on an 
unhappy girl, who fell dead in the aft of calling God to 
witnefs a falfehood. The fairs are as follow : Feb. 13, 
for horfes ; April 20, on Dcvizes-green, for all kinds of 
cattle; Holy-Thurfday, for cattle ; June 13; July 5, very 
confiderable for cattle; October 2, for cattle, toys, &c. 
and Oftober 20, on Devizes-green, for cattle, liops,. 
cloth, Sec. Five miles from Devizes is a place called 
Wanfdyke, which is thought to have been a Saxon boun¬ 
dary, dividing the territories of the Saxon kings. By 
fiome it is fuppofed to have been a Roman caufeway. 
The principal manufactures of Devizes and its vicinity 
are ferges, kerfeymeres, and broad-cloths. The latter 
branches afford employment to upwards of one thoufand 
perfons. Near this town was fought the famous battle 
of Eddington, wherein king Alfred gained a decifive 
victory over the Danes; and alfo that of Roundway, in 
1643, in which the parliament army was defeated by king 
Charles’s troops, under fir Ralph Hopton. 
DEU'LE, a river of Flanders, which runs into the 
Lys at Deulemont. 
DF-ULEMO'NT, a town of France, in the department 
of the North, at the conflux of the Deule and the Lys: 
fix miles north-weft of Lille. 
DE'LJNX, f. In Roman antiquity, eleven ounces, or 
eleven-twelfths of the libra. 
DEVOCA'TION, J'. The act of calling; the act of 
calling down. 
DEVO'ID, adj. \yuidc, Fr.] Empty; vacant; void: 
When I awoke and found her place devoid, 
And nought but preffed grafs where fhe had lyen, 
I forrow’d all fo much as earft I joy’d. Spenfer. 
Without any thing, whether good or evil; free from; 
in ivant of.—That the foul and angels are devoid of quan¬ 
tity and dimenfion, and that they have nothing to do 
with proper locality, is generally opinioned. Glanvillc. 
His warlike mind, his foul devoid of fear, 
His high defigning thoughts were figur’d there, 
As when, by magic, gholts are made appear. Dryden. 
DEVO'IR,/". [Fr.] Service. A fife now not ujed .—. 
To reftore again the kingdom of the Mamalukes, lie of¬ 
fered him their utmolt devoir and fervice. Knolks. —Act 
of civility or oblequioufnefs.—Gentlemen, who do not 
defign to marry, yet pay their devoirs to one particular 
fair. Spectator. 
Aukward and fupple, each devoir to pay, 
She Hatters her good lady twice a-day. Pope. 
DEVOI'RE,/; [law Fr.] A duty, or tax of cuftom. 
• —Devoire is as much as to fay a duty. It is ufed in 2 
Rich. II. c. 3. where it is provided, that all weftem’ 
merchants fhall pay cuftoms, and fubjidies, and other de~ 
voires of Calais. Termes de la Ley. 
To DEVO'KE, v. a. \_devocare, Lat.] Tocalldown. 
TVDEVOL'VE, v.a. [devo/vo, Lat.] To roll down : 
p M Tin cA 
