Ward, Nathaniel

E., c. 1580-1652. A Puritan clergyman, minister at Ipswich, 1634-36, and a resident of the colony of Ma achusetts until 1646, when he returned to England, and was rector of Shenfield in E ex, 1647-52. He is famous as the author of The Simple Cobler of Aggavvam in America, a piece of satire as able as it is vindictive and intolerant. The first code of laws made in New England was drafted by Ward in 1639, and formally adopted in 1644. It is styled The Body of Liberties. Mercurius Anti-mechanic us, or the Simple Cobbler’s Boy with his Lap-full of Caveats, is usually attributed to Ward, and probably with truth. Other writings ascribed to him are, A Religious Retreat Sounded to a Religious Army; A Sermon before Parliament (1647). See Tyler’s American Literature; Memoir by John Ward Dean, 1868.