Worcester, a city of England, capital of Worcestershire, on the left bank of the Severn, 102 m. W. N. W. of London; pop. in 1871, 33,221. The houses are generally of brick; some of them are two or three centuries old. The cathedral is in the form of a double cross, with a central tower 193 ft. high. In 1872 there were 35 places of public worship, of which 20 belonged to the church of England. Porcelain, iron castings, leather, gloves, hair cloth, and lace are the principal manufactures. Worcester was founded by the ancient Britons, and the Romans afterward made it an important station. It was destroyed by the Danes, and rebuilt about 894, and again burned by Hardicanute in 1041. After the Norman conquest a castle was built upon a height overlooking the river, a part of which still remains. The town suffered much from the incursions of the Welsh; and during the civil war, having espoused the cause of Charles I., it suffered severely from the soldiers of the parliament. On Sept. 3, 1651, the final battle, called by Cromwell "a crowning mercy," was fought here between the royalists under Charles II. and the parliamentarians under Cromwell, in which the former were utterly routed.

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I. Noah

Noah, an American clergyman, born in Hollis, N. II., Nov. 25, 1758, died in Brighton, Mass., Oct. 31, 1837. He was a fifer in the army in 1775, and fife major in 1777, serving at the battles of Bunker Hill and Bennington. In 1786 he published a "Letter to Rev. John Murray concerning the Origin of Evil." In 1787 he was ordained pastor of the Congregational church in Thornton, N. H., where he had previously tilled several civil offices'. In 1802 he was the first missionary of the New Hampshire missionary society, and labored in that capacity again in 1804. From 1810 to 1813 he was in charge of his brother's congregation in Salisbury. In 1810 he published "Bible News, or Sacred Truths relating to the Living God, his only Son, and Holy Spirit" (3d ed., 1825), which the Hopkinton association condemned as unsound on the doctrine of the Trinity. From 1813 to 1818 he edited "The Christian Disciple," a periodical published in Boston. In 1814 he published his celebrated tract entitled "A Solemn Review of the Custom of War, by Philo Pacificus," which was translated into several languages.

In 1816 he was one of the founders of the Massachusetts peace society, and in 1819 he commenced "The Friend of Peace," which continued in quarterly numbers for ten years, nearly the whole of it being written by himself. In 1829 he published "The Atoning Sacrifice a Display of Love, not of Wrath;" in 1831, "The Causes and Evils of Contention among Christians;" and in 1833, "Last Thoughts on Important Subjects." The Rev. Henry Ware, jr., published "Memoirs" of him (Boston, 1844).

II. Samuel

Samuel, an American clergyman, brother of the preceding, born in Hollis, N. PL, Nov. 1, 1770, died at Brainerd, Tenn., June 7, 1821. He graduated at Dartmouth college in 1795, was licensed to preach in 1796, and was pastor of the Congregational church in Fitchbnrg, Mass., from 1797 to 1802, and of the Tabernacle church, Salem, from 1803 till his death. He became corresponding secretary of the American board of commissioners for foreign missions in 1810, and in 1815 engaged in the Unitarian controversy. He published three orations, six sermons on the doctrine of future punishment (1800), three letters to Dr. Channing in connection with the Unitarian controversy (1815), and Watts's entire and select hymns (1818). A volume of his sermons appeared in 1823.

III. Samnel Melaneutlion

Samnel Melaneutlion, son of the preceding, born in Fitchburg, Mass., Sept. 4, 1801, died in Boston, Aug. 16, 1866. He graduated at Harvard college in 1822, was for several years professor of rhetoric and oratory in Amherst college, and then became pastor of the church in Salem which had been served by his father. He published " Essays on Slavery" (1826); "Life and Labors of Rev. Samuel Worcester" (2 vols. 12mo, Boston, 1852); and "Memorial of the Tabernacle, Salem" (1855).