In Heidelberg he met a German Protestant reformer, David Pareus, who persuaded him to enter the ministry.

He was soon recognised as one of the foremost Puritan ministers in Essex, and so in 1631 was reprimanded by the Bishop of London, William Laud.

This was published in England in January, 1646–1647, before Ward's return there, under the pseudonym of Theodore de la Guard.

The Simple Cobbler is a small book, which "in spite of its bitterness, and its lack of toleration" is "full of quaint originality, grim humor and power", according to the anthology Colonial Prose and Poetry: The Transplanting of Culture 1607–1650 (1903).

[4] According to the anthology, the book is "probably the most interesting literary performance" in the first half of the 17th century in the English colonies that later became the United States.