' W O R 



Parliamentary Hijlory. — Worcefterlhire has been repre- 

 fented in parliament ever llnce the third year of Edward III., 

 , and at and ever fince the revolution has maintained a refpeft- 

 I able charafler for independence in the choice of its repre- 

 fentatives. In the early part of the laft century, fir John 

 , Pakynton accufed the bifhop of interfering in the e'eftion, 

 of forbidding the clergy to vote for fir John, of threatening 

 the tenantry of the fee not to renew their leafes if they 

 voted for him, and even of defiring the baronet to withdraw 

 his pretenfions. The charges were eftabhfhed ; and after a 

 long conteft between the two houfes of parliament, on an 

 , addrefs to queen Anne, the bifhop was difmiffed from his 

 office of almoner. Worcefterrtiire, which is included in 

 : the Oxford circuit, fends nine members to parliament ; viz,. 

 1 two for the county, two for the city of Worcefter, two for 

 ieach of the boroughs of Droit wich and Evelham, and one 

 I for the borough of Bewdley. 



; Manjions and Country-feats. — Of thefe, Worcefterfhire con- 

 ; tains a very confiderable number, fome of which are highly 

 deferving of notice. Hagley-park, the " Britilh Tempe" of 

 Thomfon, the favourite feat of the ingenious and amiable 

 lord Lyttelton, the hiftorian of Henry II., is fituated to- 

 :ward the northern frontier of the county. The grounds 

 'have long been celebrated for variety and beauty of fcenery. 

 Croome-court, the handfome feat of the earl of Coventry, 

 feight miles to the fouth of Worcefter, is more indebted to 

 .modern art and (IciU for its beauties than to the natural 

 ;f9atures of the ground. The agricultural improvements, 

 ichiefly carried on by the late earl, are both extenfive and 

 'important. Six miles north from Worcefter is Omberfley, 



W O R 



fertile country, but fubjeft to inundations of the fea, efpe- 

 c.ally when the wind blows from the eaft. The harbour is 

 blocked up with fand, but it carries on a confiderable trade 

 by means of Us canals ; i8 miles S.W. of Lewarden. N. 

 iat. 53 . E. long. 5° 35'. 



WORD, in Language, is an articulate found, defisned 

 to reprefent fome idea. * 



Word, in Writing, is an affemblage of feveral letter"; 

 forming one or more fyllables, and fignifying fome thing 



The Port-royalifts define words to be diftina articulate 

 founds, agreed on by mankind for conveying their thousrhts 

 and fentiments. 



The proper charafter of a word, according to the in- 

 genious Mr. Harris, is that of its being a found fignificant, 

 of which no part is of itfelf fignificant ; and hence he infers, 

 that words are the fmalleft parts of fpeech. 



The firfl and moft obvious diftinftion of words is into 

 fuch as are fignificant abfolutely or by themfelves, and fuch 

 as are fignificant by relation : the former may be called prin- 

 cipals, and the latter acceffories. Moreover, all words 

 whatever, fignificant as principals, are either fubjlantives 

 or attributives ; and thofe, which are fignificant as accef- 

 fories, acquire a fignification either from being afTociated to 

 one word, in which cafe they only define and determine, and 

 may juftly be called definitives, or to many -words at once, in 

 which cafe they ferve to no other purpofe than to conneft, 

 whence they are called conneBives. Accordingly, Mr. 

 Harris refers all words to thefe four fpecies. Hermes, 

 p. 20, &c. See Speech. 



Grammarians divide words into eight claffes, called farts 



the refidence of the marchionefs of Downftiire, in the midft of fpeech ; which are, the noun, pronoun, verb, participle, ad- 



vero, conjunttwn, prepojition, and mterjeamn ; to one or other 

 of which, all the words and terms in all languages, which 

 have been, or may be invented to exprefs our ideas, are re- 

 ducible. See each. 



Words, again, are divided mto primitives and derivatives, 

 negative and pofitive, fimple and complex, common and proper, 

 alJlraR and concrete, fynonymous and equivocal. 



With regard to their fyllables, words are farther divided 

 into monofyllables and poly fyllables. 



The grammatical figures of words, which occafion 

 changes in the form, &c. thereof, are, fyncope, apocope, 

 apajlrophe, di^refis, apharefts, projlhefis, epenthefts, paragogt, 

 metathefis. See. See Syncope, Apocope, &c. See alfo 

 Figure. 



The ufe of words, we have obferved, is to ferve as fen- 

 fible figns of our ideas ; and the ideas they fland for in 



Df fpacious grounds. The houfe has been lately modernized, 

 Grafton-hall, about a mile weft from Bromfgrove, the pro- 

 perty of the earl of Shrewfbury, was in ancient times a 

 ^capital manfion ; but being burned down in 1710, the porch 

 land a part of the hall alone remain as fpecimens of its ori- 

 Iginal magnificence. The latter has been converted into a 

 ichapel for a modern building annexed. Madresfield, fix 

 ■miles fouth-weft from Worcefter, the refidence of vifcount 

 'Beauchamp, is an ancient baronial caftle, greatly altered in 

 'the modern ftyle. Whitley-court, the feat of lord Foley, 

 sight miles north-weft from Worcefter, is a highly improved 

 'and fpacious manfion, in the midft of an extenfive park. 

 The parifh-church, clofely adjoining to the houfe, is one of 

 'the moft elegant in the kingdom. Annexed to the fee of 

 'Worcefter is the ancient caftle of Hartlebury, the refidence 

 pf the bifhops from the time of Henry III., fituated be- 



tween nine and ten miles north from Worcefter. The prin- the mind of the perfon that fpeaks, are their proper figni 

 :ipal part of the buildings, as they now ftand, is the work fications. ' 



■jf bifhop Hough. Much of the improvements, however, 

 'ire due to the late biftiop Hurd, who furnifhed the palace 

 With a valuable library, for the ufe of his fucceffors in the 

 (fee, in which are the principal books from the libraries of 

 ,Mr. Pope and bifhop Warburton. — CoUeftions for the Hif- 

 tory of Worcefterfhire, by the Rev. Tredway Nafh, D.D. 

 J! vols. fol. Lond. 1781-2. Supplement to ditto, ditto, 

 1799. General View of the Agriculture of the County of 

 Worcefter, by William Thomas Pomcroy, 410. Lond. 1794. 

 General View of the Agriculture of the County of Wor- 

 |:efter, by W. Pitt, 8vo. Lond. 1813. Beauties of Eng- 

 land and Wales, Worcefterfhire, by F. C. Laird, 8vo. Lond. 

 |i8i6. 



j WORCUM, or Woudrichem, or Wodercum, a town 

 ')f Holland, fituated on the fouth fide of the Wahal, firft 

 lurrounded with walls in 1460, and defended with four 

 oaftioBS ; 13 miles E.N.E. of Dort. 

 ; WoRcuM, a fea-port town of Friefeland, fituated in a 

 j Vol. XXXVIII. 



I 



Simple and primitive words have no natural conneftion 

 with tlie words they fignify ; whence there is no rationale to 

 be given of them : it is by a mere arbitrary inftitution and 

 agreement of men, that they come to fignify any thing. 

 Certain words have no natural propriety or aptitude to ex- 

 prefs certain thoughts, more than others : were that the 

 cafe, there could have been but one language. 



But in derivative and compound words the cafe is fome- 

 what different. In the forming of thefe, we fee a regard 

 is to be had to agreement, relation, and analogy : thus moll 

 words that have the fame ending, have one common and 

 general way of denoting or fignifying things; and thofe 

 compounded with the fame prepofitions, have a fimilar 

 manner of exprefling and fignifying fimilar ideas in all the 

 learned languages where they occur. 



For the perfeftion of language, it is not enough, Mr, 



Locke obferves, that founds can be made figns of ideas ; 



unlefs thefe can be made ufe of, fo as to comprehend feveral 



4 S particular 



