Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/383

Rh father was John Ward, a famous Puritan minister, who, according to a mural tablet that was placed by his sons in the chancel of the church at Haver- hill, England, preached the gospel in Haverhill and Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, for twenty-five years. Nathaniel Ward had two brothers, who, like himself, were authors and clergymen, and who also suffered for non-conformity. The eldest, Samuel, town-preacher of Ipswich, England, was author of " The Life of Faith," " The Wonders of the Loadstone," and several other works, while the youngest, John, who was rector of St. Clem- ent's, Ipswich, and a member of the Westminster assembly of divines, preached two sermons before the house of commons, which were printed. The " Sermons and Treatises of Samuel Ward, B. D.," were edited by the present bishop of Liverpool, the Rt, Rev. John C. Ryle, D. D. (Edinburgh, 1862). It was said of the brothers — Samuel, Nathaniel, and John — that they together " would not make up the abilities of their father. Nor were they them- selves offended by this hyperbole, to have the branches lessened to greaten their root." Nathan- iel Ward was graduated at Cambridge in 1603, educated for the law, and admitted an outer bar- rister. After practising in England, he accom- panied some merchants to the continent, where he travelled extensively. At Heidelberg he met the celebrated writer David Pareus, who induced him to quit the law and enter the ministry. As early as 1618 he was a clergyman at Elbing, in Prussia, probably acting as chaplain at the factory there of the Eastland merchants. Afterward he returned to his native country. At first he is said to have been a lecturer in London, but as early as 1628 he was presented by Sir Nathaniel Rich, a relative of the Earl of Warwick, to the rectory of Stondon Massey, in Essex. Mr. Ward was one of the chief Puritan ministers in that county, and in 1631 was brought before Laud, who was then bishop of Lon- don, for non-conformity, but escaped excommuni- cation. Laud tried to induce him to conform, and had frequent conferences with him without avail. Two years later, in 1633, he was deprived of the living. Early in the next year, 1634, he sailed for New England. His first and only settlement in this country was at Ipswich, where Rev. Thomas Parker was already the minister of the church, and Mr. Ward settled as his colleague. Two years later, owing to feeble health, he resigned his pas- torate. He still continued to reside at Ipswich, and while living here compiled for the colony of Massachusetts the " Body of Liberties," which was adopted by the general court in December, 1641. This was " the first code of laws established in New England." It " exhibits throughout," says Dr. Francis C. Gray, " the principles and securities of English liberty, and, although it retains some strong traces of the times, is in the main far in advance of them, and in several respects in ad- vance of the common law of England at this day. It shows that our ancestors, instead of deducing all their laws from the books of Moses, established at the outset a code of fundamental principles, which, taken as a whole, for wisdom, equity, adapta- tion to the wants of the community, and a liber- ality of sentiment superior to the age in which it was written, may fearlessly challenge a comparison with any similar production from Magna Charta itself to the latest bill of rights that has been put forth in Europe or America." As early as 1645 Mr. Ward began to write " The Simple Cobler of Aggawam in America. " This was completed in the autumn of 1646, and sent to England for pub- lication, where it was issued in January, 1646-'7. It was published under the pen-name of Theodore de la Guard, which is merely a slight disguise of his own name, Theodore being the Greek equiva- lent of the Hebrew Nathaniel, and de la Guard the French of the English Ward. He soon after- ward sailed for his native country, probably in company with Edward Winslow, who left near the middle of December. He had a "'hard winter voyage," and probaby arrived before the opening of spring. A second edition of the " Simple Cob- ler " was issued soon after Mr. Ward's arrival, and a third and a fourth followed the same year. All the editions bear the date of 1647, each one be- ing corrected by the author, who made material additions to the several issues. No later editions have been printed in England, but two have ap- peared in this country, both at Boston, one in 1718 and the other, which was edited by David Pulsifer, in 1843. Prof. Moses Coit Tyler, in his " History of American Literature," says of this book : " It is a tremendous partisan pamphlet, intensely vital even yet, full of fire, wit, whim, eloquence, sarcasm, in- vective, patriotism, bigotry." About a year after his arrival in England, Ward became the minister of the church at Shenfield, in Essex, four or five miles distant from Stondon Massey, where he was formerly settled. He held this living till his death in the autumn of 1652. Besides the works that have been noticed, his publications were a " Sermon preached before the House of Commons" (1647); "A Religious Retreat sounded to a Religious Army," anonymous (1647) : " To the High and Honorable Parliament, Humble Petitions, Serious Suggestions, and Dutifull Expostulations," anony- mous (1648) ; and '• Discolliminium, or A Most Obedient Reply to a Late Book called ' Bounds and Bonds.' By B " (1650). The following works have been attributed to Mr. Ward. Probably the first and last were written by him : " A Word to Mr. Peters, and Two Words for the Parliament and Kingdom " (1648) ; " The Pulpit Incendiary " (1648) ; and '' Mercurius Anti-Mechanicus, or The Simple Cobler's Boy, with his Lap-full of Caveats. By Theodore de la Guarden" (1648). — His son, John, clergyman, was born, according to Cotton Math- er's " Magnalia," in Haverhill, England, 5 Nov., 1606, but, if the age in his marriage license be correct, he was born at a later date, probably in November, 1609. He died at Haverhill, Mass., 27 Dec, 1693. He was matriculated in 1622 at Emmanuel college, Cambridge, where his father was educated, and was graduated in 1626. On 16 Nov., 1633, he was instituted rector of Hadleigh, in Essex, but he resigned in 1639 and came to New England. For a short time he assisted his father's step-brother, Rev. Ezekiel Rogers, of Rowley. He settled in 1641 at Pentucket (afterward Haverhill), Mass., where in 1645 a church was formed and he was ordained the first minister. There he offici- ated for more than fifty years till his death. He was an able and influential minister.

WARD, Richard, colonial governor, b. in Newport, R. I., 15 April, 1689; d. there. 21 Aug., 1763. His father, Thomas Ward, son of John Ward, who was an officer in one of Cromwell's cavalry regiments, came from Gloucester, England, after the restoration of Charles II., as his father did also, and both settled in Newport. Thomas Ward, who followed the business of a merchant, was general treasurer of the colony, 1677-'8, a deputy to the general assembly in 1678-'9, an assistant in 1679-'81, and then deputy from 1683 till 1686. Richard was also engaged in commerce. He was attorney-general in 1712-'13, deputy and clerk of the assembly in 1714, recorder from 1714 till 1730, deputy