won 
won 
words; to overpower by words.—If one were to be worded 
to death, Italian is the fittest language. Howell. 
WORD, a town of Bavarian Franconia, properly one of 
the suburbs of Nuremberg. It contains 1800 inhabitants. 
WORD, a small town in the north-east of France, in 
Alsace. Population 1000. 
WO'RDCATCHER, s. One who cavils at words. 
Each wight who reads not, anil but scans and spells. 
Each word-catcher that lives on syllables. Pope. 
WQ'RDER, s. One who uses words; a speaker.— -We 
could not say as much of our high warders. Whitlock. 
WO'RDINESS, s. State or quality of abounding with 
words. Ash. 
WORDINGBERG, a petty seaport of Denmark, on the 
south coast of the island of Zealand. 
WO'RDISH, adj. Respecting words.—What I have hi¬ 
therto said in these wordish testimonies. Hammond. 
WO'RDISHNESS, s. Manner of wording or expression. 
—The truth they hide by their dark wordishness. Verses. 
WO'RDLESS, adj. Silent; without words. 
Her joy with heav’d-up hands she doth express. 
And, wordless, so greets heaven for his success. Shakspeare. 
WORDSFIELD, a hamlet of England, in Worcester¬ 
shire, near Upton-upon-Severn. 
WORDWELL, a parish of England, in Suffolk; 5J 
miles from St. Edmund’s Bury. 
WO'RDY, adj. Verbose; full of words. 
We need not lavish hours in wordy periods, 
As do the Romans, ere they dare to fight. Philips. 
WORE. The preterite of wear. 
This on his helmet wore a lady’s glove, 
And that a sleeve embroider’d by his love. Dryden. 
WORE, a township of England, in Salop; 7| miles 
north-north-east of Drayton-in-Hales. 
WORFIELD, a parish of England, in Salop, near Bridg¬ 
north. Population 1339. 
WORGAN (Dr. John), a musical graduate of Oxford, or¬ 
ganist of St. Mary-Axe, Bedford chapel, and many years a 
distinguished performer on the organ at Vauxhall, and Dr. 
Arne’s successor there in the composition of cantatas, songs, 
and ballads. 
He learned the rudiments of music of his elder brother, 
who had likewise an organist’s place in the city, and played 
the violoncello in the Vauxhall band. Their scholars on the 
harpsichord were very numerous, particularly within Tem¬ 
ple-bar ; and John, as an organist and opener of new organs, 
rivalled Stanley. He was a very studious man, and dipt very 
early into the old ecclesiastical composers of Italy. He suc¬ 
ceeded Gladwin in playing the organ at Vauxhall. His first 
study in composition and organ-playing was directed by 
Roseingrave, who pointed his attention to the pure harmony 
and modulation of Palestrina, and organ-fugues of Handel. 
His constant use of the organ at Vauxhall, duriug the sum¬ 
mer, ranked him with Stanley and Keeble ; and his enthu¬ 
siasm for Scarlatti’s lessons, with which he was impressed 
by Roseingrave, rendered him equal to Kelway in their exe¬ 
cution. 
With an extempore prelude, alia Palestrina, and one of 
Handel’s organ-fugues, he used to preface his concerto every 
night. 
At length he got acquainted with Geminiani, swore by 
no other divinity, and on consulting him on the subject of 
composition, he was told that he would never be acquainted 
with all the arcana of the science, without reading “ El Por- 
que della Musica,” a book written in Spanish per Andres 
Lorente, en Alcala, 1672. But where was this book to be 
had ? Geminiani told him, and told him truly, that the tract 
was very scarce. He had, indeed, a copy of it himself; but 
he would not part with it under twenty guineas. Worgan, 
on fire to be in possession of this oracular author, imme¬ 
diately purchased the book at the price mentioned; not un¬ 
derstanding a word of Spanish, he went to work in learning 
it. But the knowledge of Spanish and study of Lorente seem 
. Vol. XXIV. No. 1669. 
737 
to have had no other effect on Worgan’s compositions, than 
to spoil his Vauxhall songs ; which though sung into popu¬ 
larity by dint of repetition, had no attractive grace, or pleas¬ 
ing cast of melody. 
He composed several oratorios, in which the choruses are 
learned, and the accompaniments to his songs ingenious. The 
cantilena was original, it is true, but it was original awkward¬ 
ness, and attempts at novelty without nature for his guide. 
His organ-playing, though more in the style of Handel 
than of any other school, was indeed learned and masterly, 
in a way quite his own. In his youth, he was impressed 
with a reverence for Domenico Scarlatti by old Roseingrave’s 
account of his wonderful performance on the harpsichord, as 
well as by his lessons; and afterwards he became a great 
collector of his pieces, some of which he had been honoured 
with from Madrid by the author himself. He was the editor 
of twelve at one time, and six at another, that are admirable, 
though few have now perseverance sufficient to vanquish 
their peculiar difficulties of execution. He was in posses¬ 
sion of many more, which he always locked up as Sybil’s 
leaves. 
He had the misfortune to labour under two dreadful cala¬ 
mities; a bad wife, and the stone. He got rid of the former, 
after great mortifications and expense, by divorce; but in 
too early wishing to abridge his sufferings from the latter, he 
lost his life in the torture of an operation, August 20, 1790. 
WORGAUM, a town of Hindostan, province of Aurun- 
gabad. It is situated 20 miles west of Poona, and is cele¬ 
brated for being the scene of the disgraceful treaty made by 
the Bombay commissioners with the Mahrattas, in 1778. 
WORGEL, a large village of the Austrian states, in Tyrol, 
on the Inn. 
WORINGEN, a small town of the Prussian states, on the 
Rhine. Population 1400. 
To WORK, v. ?i. pret. worked, or wrought, [peopcan. 
Sax.; werken, Dutch; waurkian, M. Goth.J To labour; to 
travail; to toil. 
Good Kent, how shall I live and work 
To match thy goodness ? life will be too short. Shakspeare. 
To be in action; to be in motion. 
In Morat your hopes a crown design’d 
And all the woman work'd within your mind. Dryden. 
To act; to carry on operations. 
Our better part remains 
To work in close design. Milton. 
To operate as a manufacturer.—They that work in fine 
flax. Isaiah .—To ferment.—Into wine and strong beer put 
some like substances, while they work, which may make 
them fume and inflame less. Bacon .—To operate; to have 
effect. 
With some other business put the king 
From these sad thoughts that work too much upon him. 
Shakspeare. 
To obtain diligence. 
Without the king’s assent 
You wrought to be a legate. Shakspeare. 
To act internally; to operate as a purge, or other physic. 
Work on, 
My medicine, work ! thus credulous fools are caught. 
Shakspeare. 
To act as on a subject.—Natural philosophy has sensible 
objects to work upon ; but then it often puzzles the reader 
with the intricacy of its notions. Addison .—-To make way. 
Who would trust chance, since all men have the seeds 
Of good and ill, which should work upward first ? Dryden. 
To be tossed or agitated. 
Vex’d by wintry storms, Benacus raves. 
Confus’d with working sands and rolling waves. Addison. 
To WORK, v. a. prefer, and participle pass, worked, or 
wrought .—To labour; to manufacture; to form by labour. 
—The industry of the people works up all their native com- 
7 Z modifies 
