WORCESTER, Edward Somerset, Marquis of, was a distinguished political character in the time of Charles I. by whom he was created earl of Glamorgan, while heir-apparent to the marquis of Worcester. This nobleman flourished chiefly in the reign of Charles I. and seems to have been a most zealous adherent to the cause of that unfortunate monarch, on whose account it is said that he and his father wasted an immense sum. Of this the king was so sensible, that he granted to the earl a most extraordinary patent, the chief powers of which were, to make him generalissimo of three armies, and admiral with nomination of his officers; to enable him to raise money by selling his majesty's woods, wardships, customs, and prerogatives; and to create by blank patents, to be filled up at Glamorgan's pleasure, from the rank of marquis to baronet. If any thing, says Lord Orford, could justify the delegation of such authority, besides his majesty having lost all authority, when he conferred it, it was the promise with which the king concluded of bestowing the princess Elizabeth on Glamorgan's son. This patent was given up by the marquis to the house of peers after the restoration. He died not long after that era, in 1667, after he had published what Lord Orford calls the following amazing piece of folly.
"A century of the names and scantlings of such inventions, as at present I can call to mind to have tried and perfected, which (my former notes being lost) I have, at the instance of a powerful friend, endeavoured now in the year 1655, to set these down in such a way as may sufficiently instruct me to put any of them in practice."
Some of the inventions referred to in this work are the following. A ship-destroying engine, a coach-stopping engine, a balance water-work, a bucket fountain, an ebbing and flowing castle clock, a tinder-box pistol, a pocket ladder, a most admirable way to raise weights, a stupendous water-work. For the last contrivance the marquis procured an act of parliament in 1663, for the sole benefit arising from it, one-tenth of it being appropriated to Charles II. and his successors.
In a manuscript addition to a copy of the Century of Inventions, the stupendous or water-commanding engine is described as boundless for height or quantity, requiring no external, or even additional help or force to be set or continued in motion, but what intrinsically is afforded from its own operation, nor yet the twentieth part thereof, and the engine consisteth of the following particulars. 1. A perfect counterpoise for what quantity soever of water. 2. A perfect countervail for what height soever it is to be brought unto. 3. A primum mobile, commanding both height and quantity, regulator-wife. 4. A vicegerent or countervail, supplying the place, and performing the full force of man, wind, beast, or mill. 5. A helm or stern, with bit and reins, wherewith any child may guide, order, and controul the whole operation. 6. A particular magazine for water, according to the intended quantity or height of water. 7. A place for the original fountain, or even river to run into, and naturally of its own accord incorporate itself with the rising water, and at the very bottom of the same aqueduct, though never so big or high.
Various and very opposite opinions have been held with regard to the title of this nobleman to be considered as a mechanical genius. Lord Orford has pronounced his work an amazing piece of folly; and Mr Hume, speaking of his political conduct, says, "that the king judged aright of this nobleman's character, appears from his Century of Arts, or Scantling of Inventions, which is a ridiculous compound of lies, chimeras, and impossibilities, and shows what might be expected from such a man." Hist. of England. It may be fairly presumed from the quotations now made, that neither Lord Orford nor Mr Hume was qualified to judge of the marquis's work, otherwise a more temperate or a more modified opinion would have been given. By others, the author of the inventions has been regarded as one of the greatest mechanical geniuses, and is to be considered as the inventor of the flexum-engine, which he denominates a stupendous water-work. There seems to be no reason to suppose that any steam-engine was erected by the marquis himself; but it is said that Captain Savary, after reading the marquis's books, tried many experiments upon the power and force of steam, and at last fell upon a method of applying it to raise water; and having bought up and destroyed all the marquis's books that could be got, claimed the honour of the invention to himself, and obtained a patent for it.
Worcester
Word. The marquis of Worcester is sometimes confounded with John Tiptoft, earl of Worcester, a very accomplished literary character, who lived in the times of Henry VI. and Edward IV. Being attached to Edward, he absconded during the short restoration of Henry, and being taken concealed in a tree in Waybridge forest in Huntingdonshire, he was brought to London, accused of cruelty in his administration of Ireland, and condemned and beheaded at the Tower in the year 1470. This nobleman translated Cicero de Amicitia, some parts of Cæsar's Commentaries, and was the author of several other works.