WORCESTER WORD. 



l>ut left only one son and heir, by his third wife. 

 The earl of Worcester appears to have been a per- 

 son of considerable learning and of great accom- 

 plishments for the age in which he lived. In his 

 return from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, he had pass- 

 ed some time at Venice, Padua, and Rome. He 

 was led to Rome by his desire to see the Vatican 

 library, and he there made an elegant oration to 

 pope Pius II. He was a great collector of books, 

 and gave manuscripts of 500 marks value to the 

 university of Oxford. The literary works of this 

 nobleman, as far as we are acquainted with them, 

 are an English translation of Cicero De Amicitia, 

 and of Two Declarations made by Publius Corne- 

 lius Scipio and Gayus Flamigneus, Competitors for 

 the Love of Locrece, both printed by William Cax- 

 ton ; some Orations and Epistles ; and an English 

 translation of Caesar's Commentaries, as touching 

 British affairs, supposed to be printed in the reign 

 of Henry VIII. In the sixth of Edward IV., he 

 drew up Orders for the placing of the Nobility in 

 all Proceedings, and Orders and Statutes for Justs 

 and Triumphs ; and in the Ashmolean collection 

 are Ordinances, Statutes and Rules, made by John 

 T iptoft, Erie of Worcester, and Constable of Eng- 

 land, by the King's Commandment, at Windsor, 

 29th May, 6th Edward IV., to be observed in all 

 Justs of Peers within the Realm of England, &c. 

 He is also said to have written a Petition against 

 the Lollards, and an Oration to the Citizens of 

 Padua ; and among the manuscripts belonging to 

 Lincoln cathedral is a volume containing about 

 twenty epistles, four of his writing, and the rest 

 addressed to him. 



WORCESTER, EDWARD SOMERSET, marquis 

 of, an English nobleman, celebrated for his scienti- 

 fic studies, and supposed to have been the first in- 

 ventor of the steam-engine. This nobleman engag- 

 ed in the service of Charles I. during the civil war, 

 and, after its termination, spent his time in retire- 

 ment, and in the cultivation of natural philosophy 

 and mechanics. In 1663, he published a book en- 

 titled the Scantlings of One Hundred Inventions, 

 in which he first gave a description of the uses and 

 effects of his engine ; and he afterwards published 

 a small pamphlet, called an Exact and True De- 

 finition of the most stupendous Water-commanding 

 Engine, invented by the Right Honourable (and 

 deservedly to be praised and admired) Edward 

 Somerset, Lord Marquess of Worcester. (See 

 Steam.) In neither of these works does he give 

 any statement of the mode of constructing his en- 

 gine; but, from his description and account of its 

 effects, it may be inferred that its action depended 

 on the condensation as well as the elastic force of 

 the steam, and consequently that in principle it re- 

 sembled the modern steam-engine. It seems also 

 that he had actually constructed a machine upon a 

 large scale, though, unfortunately for himself and 

 for the interests of science, he was inable to excite 

 the attention ot the public towards his project, and 

 was looked upon by his contemporaries as a vision- 

 ary speculator. His death took place in 1667, at 

 the age of seventy. 



WORCESTERSHIRE; an inland county of Eng- 

 land, bounded on the north by Shropshire and Staf- 

 fordshire, on the east by Warwickshire, on the south 

 by the county of Gloucester, and on the west by that 

 of Hereford. Its figure is irregular, and several 

 tracts of lands belonging to it are enclosed by neigh- 

 bouring counties, partly, perhaps, in consequence of 

 its having no natural boundaries. The quantity of 



arable land in this county has been estimated at 

 360,000 acres, chiefly devoted to the cultivation of 

 wheat, barley, oats, beans, pease, vetches, turnips, 

 and hops. Cabbages are sometimes grown as a 

 field crop ; the sands of Wolverley are noted for 

 the produce of carrots, and potatoes are raised in 

 great plenty in the vicinity of Bromsgrove. Wor- 

 cestershire has long been distinguished for the 

 growth of hops, of which three varieties are here 

 cultivated, the red, the green, and the white. The 

 orchards and plantations of fruit-trees, which are 

 frequently placed in the hedge-rows, form a consi- 

 derable source of profit, from the production ot 

 cider and perry, for the excellence of which the 

 county is much noted. Worcestershire formerly 

 contained the royal forests of Wyre and Fecken- 

 bam, and the Chase of Malvern, which have long 

 since been disafforested ; though the forest ot 

 Wyre, extending from the north-western part of 

 the county into Shropshire, still contains much 

 timber, and the underwood is largely used for hop- 

 poles. The principal rivers in this county are the 

 Severn, the Avon, the Teme and the Stour. The 

 Severn enters Worcestershire, a little to the north 

 of Bewdley ; and passing southward by Worcester 

 and Upton, receives the Avon just below Tewkes- 

 bury, where it enters Gloucestershire. The Avon 

 passes into this county from Warwickshire, and af- 

 ter a winding course by Evesham and Pershore, it 

 proceeds to its confluence with the Severn. The 

 Teme has its source in Shropshire, and entering 

 this county westward of Tenbury, takes a serpen- 

 tine course to its junction with the Severn below 

 Worcester. The Stour rises in Shropshire, and flows 

 southward through some part of this county to join 

 the Severn at Stourport. The climate of Worces- 

 tershire is mild, temperate, and salubrious, and the 

 atmosphere is generally clear, there being no lakes 

 of any magnitude, and but little extent of marsh of 

 moorland. The only mineral productions of this 

 county which require notice are the salt-rocks of 

 Droitwich, and coal-mines in the north-western dis- 

 trict. In the neighbourhood of Dudley is found, 

 imbedded in limestone, an extraneous fossil, called 

 the Dudley Locust. The principal manufactures 

 of this county are those of gloves, china-ware, and 

 cabinet-work, extensively carried on at Worcester; 

 the glass and iron-works at Dudley and Stourbridge; 

 the manufacture of carpets and bombasins, espe- 

 cially of the former, for which Kidderminster has 

 long been famous ; and nails, needles, and fish- 

 hooks, made at Redditch and Bromsgrove ; besides 

 cider, perry, and salt, already mentioned. The 

 mineral springs are numerous, and are found at 

 Worcester, Kidderminster, Bromsgrove, Churchill, 

 Abberton, and Malvern, the last of which are by 

 far the most celebrated. This county contains the 

 city of Worcester, which is its capital ; the borough 

 and market towns of Droitwich, Evesham, and 

 Bewdley ; and the market-towns of Bromsgrove, 

 Dudley, Kidderminster, Pershore, Shipston, Stour- 

 bridge, Stourport, Tenbury, and Upton-upon- 

 Severn. Population in 1841,233,336. 



WORD. In the scriptural sense, see Logos ; in a 

 philological meaning, see Languages, and Philology. 



WORD, OR WATCHWORD, in an army or 

 garrison, is some peculiar word or sentence, by 

 which the soldiers know and distinguish one another 

 in the night, &c., and by which spies and designing 

 persons are discovered. It is used also to prevent 

 surprises. The word is given out, in an army, 

 every night. 



