6. For, tedioufneffe, read, I am forry for it—We have a strong weaknesse in N. E. that when wee are fpeaking, we know not how to conclude: wee make many ends, before we make an end: the fault is in the Climate; we cannot helpe it though we can, which is the Arch infirmity in all morality: We are so near the Weft pole, that our Longitudes are as long, as any wife man would wish, and somewhat longer. I fcarce know any Adage more gratefull: than Grata brevitas.

Verba confer maxime ad compendium. Plaut.

Coblers will mend, but fome will never mend,
But end, and end, and end, and never end.
A well-girt houre gives every man content,

Sixe ribs of beefe, are worth fixe weeks of Lent.

For, all my other faults, which may bee more and greater than I fee, read, I am heartily forry for them, before I know them, least I fhould forget it after; and humbly crave pardon at adventure, having nothing that I can think of, to plead but this,

Quifquis inops peccat, minor eft reus. Petron.

Poore Coblers well may fault it now and then,
They'r ever mending faults for other men.
And if I worke for nought, why is it faid,
This bungling Cobler would be foundly paid?

So

So farewell England old
If evill times enfue,

Let good men come to us,

Wee'l welcome them to New.

And farewell Honor'd Friends,
If happy dayes enfue,
You'l have fome Guests from hence,
Pray welcome us to you.

And farewell fimple world,

If thou'lt thy Cranium mend,

There is my Laft and All,

And a Shoem-Akers

END.

NATHANIEL WARD AND THE SIMPLE COBBLER.

IN March, 1633, a little company of settlers, led by John Winthrop, Jr., eldest son of the Governor, invaded the wilderness and began the formal settlement of Ipswich. The young leader was a scholarly and noble-minded man, and a singularly refined group was attracted at once to the new town. For the work of the ministry, came Nathaniel Ward, and Nathaniel Rogers, both excommunicated by Laud and deposed from the ministry in England, and the young John Norton, brilliant in scholarship and destined for high place in the Colony. Thomas Dudley, retiring from the Governorship, sought a new home here, and with him came his daughter, Ann, with her hushand, Simon Bradstreet, the future statesman, and Patience and her husband, Daniel Denison, renowned for his military skill and political prominence. Dr. Giles Firmin, son-in-law of Ward, and Richard Saltonstall, son of Sir Richard, a man of fine intellectual parts, called at once to places of political preferment, were numbered among the earliest settlers.

Winthrop had been a student at Trinity College, Dublin. Ward, Rogers, Norton, Saltonstall, and Firmin were al Cambridge graduates. Bradstreet and Dudley were men of fine intelligence, and Ann Bradstreet was already revealing marked poetical gifts.

William Hubbard took his bachelor's degree in 1642 with the first class that graduated from Harvard, and became the minister of the Ipswich church. Ezekiel Cheever, the famous schoolmaster, came in 1650, and taught for ten years as Master of the Grammar School. Samuel Symonds grew into fame and influence in political life, Samuel Appleton won renown as Commander-in-chief during King Philip's War, and in the fiftieth year from the settlement of the town, John Rogers was called to the presidency of Harvard. A few years later, Ipswich gained a notable place in the annals of resistance to tyranny by her refusal to choose the tax commissioner ordered by Sir Edmund Andros.

From this brilliant group, came notable contributions to the literature of New England. Ann Bradstreet, inspired

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by such an atmospere, wrote the poems which were hailed with rapture as the work of the Tenth Muse. William Hubbard compiled his History of the Indian Wars. Nathaniel Ward revealed his great gifts in the preparation of The Body of Liberties and The Simple Cobler. He was the most striking figure perhaps in this illustrious company His career in England had been noteworthy. He had taken his degree of Bachelor of Arts at Emmanuel College in 1600 and his Master's degree in 1603, but chose the legal profession, though his father and two brothers were clergymen. He "read almost all the Common Law of England and some Statutes," he remarks in The Simple Cobler (p.66), then travelled widely in Europe and spent some time in Heidelberg. There he came in contact with the famous theologian, David Pareus, and was influenced by him to abandon the law and enter the ministry.

While rector at Stondon-Massey, near London, he became conspicuous for his Puritan practices, and was summoned before Archbishop Laud. Refusing to comply with the ecclesiastical requirements, he was roughly excommunicated. Deprived of his home by the death of his wife and deposed from the ministry, he sought a new home and work in the New World, although he was at least fifty-four years old.

He came to Ipswich in 1634, the year of his arrival, and began his work at once. Mr. John Ward Dean, in his excellent Memoir of Mr. Ward, states that he preached not more than two or three years, and that he was moved to resign his pastorate, partly on account of impaired health, but principally from a preference for literary employments. He was succeeded by Rev. Nathaniel Rogers in February, 1637/8, and turned at once to other and varied labors.

His house was built near the present site of the Col. Wade mansion. His sons, James and John, were often with him, and his daughter, Susan, wife of Dr. Giles Firmin, lived on the adjoining lot, where the parsonage of the South Church now stands. On the opposite side of the road, within a few rods of Mr. Ward's door, Richard Saltonstall and Mr. Rogers reared their dwellings. John Norton, Gov. Dudley and Simon Bradstreet dwelt within easy walking distance. Congenial society was never lacking.

In April, 1638, he was appointed a member of a committee to prepare a code of laws for the Colony. His legal attain