In 1622 Bishop Harsnet prosecuted Ward for nonconformity in the consistory court of Norwich. Ward appealed to the king, who referred the articles exhibited against him to the examination of Lord-keeper Williams. Williams decided that Ward, though not altogether blameless, was a man easily to be won by fair dealing, and he persuaded the bishop to accept Ward's submission and not to remove him from the lectureship (Ward, Life of Archbishop Williams, 1693, i. 95). He was accordingly released from the prosecution; but on 6 Aug. 1623 a record appears in the books of the Ipswich corporation to the effect that 'a letter from the king, to inhibit Mr. Ward from preaching, is referred to the council of the town.' In 1624 Ward and Yates, another Ipswich clergyman, complained to a committee of the House of Commons of the Arminian and popish tenets broached in 'A New Gag for an Old Goose' by Richard Montagu [q. v.] As, however, the session was drawing to a close, the commons referred their complaint to the archbishop of Canterbury (Heylyn, Cyprianus Anglicanus, 1671, pp. 120, 121).
Ward subsequently incurred the displeasure of Archbishop Laud. On 2 Nov. 1635 he was censured in the high commission at Lambeth for preaching against bowing at the name of Jesus and against the Book of Sports on the Lord's day; and for saying that the church of England was ready to ring the changes, and that religion and the gospel 'stood on tiptoes ready to be gone' (Prynne, Canterburies Doome, p. 361). He was suspended from his ministry, enjoined to make a public submission and recantation, condemned in costs of suit, and committed to prison. His fellow-townsmen declined to ask the bishop of Norwich to appoint another preacher, as they hoped to have Ward reappointed in despite of all censures (ib. p. 375).
Having at length obtained his release, Ward retired to Holland, where he first became a member of William Bridge's church at Rotterdam, and afterwards his colleague in the pastoral office. It is said that upon their going to Holland they renounced their episcopal ordination and were reordained; when Bridge ordained Ward, and Ward returned him the compliment (Baillie, Dissuasive, pp. 75, 82). This account is, however, open to grave doubt. It is clear that Ward did not remain long in Holland, for in April 1638 he purchased for 140l. the house which had been provided for him by the town of Ipswich in 1610. He died in March 1639-1640, and was buried on the 8th of that month in the church of St. Mary-le-Tower, Ipswich. On a stone in the middle aisle is this laconic inscription:
Watch Ward! yet a little while,
And He that shall come, will come.
In the town books of Ipswich it is recorded that after his death, as a mark of respect, his widow and his eldest son, Samuel, were allowed for their lives the annual stipend of 1001. enjoyed by their father.
An excellent portrait of Ward was a few years ago in the possession of Mr. Hunt, solicitor, of Ipswich.
Samuel Ward's works are: 1. 'A Coal from the Altar to kindle the Holy Fire of Zeal,' edited by Ambrose Wood, London, 1615, 8vo; 3rd edit. 1618; 4th edit. 1622. 2. 'Balme from Gilead : to recover Conscience,' edited by Thomas Gatacre,' London, 1617, 8vo, and again 1618. 3. 'Jethro's Justice of Peace,' edited by Nathaniel Ward, London, 1618, 1621, 1623, 12mo. 4. 'The Happiness of Practice,' London, 1621, 1622, 1627, 8vo. 5. 'The Life of Faith in Death: exemplified in the living speeches of dying Christians,' 2nd edit,, London, 1621, 1622, 1625, 8vo. 6. 'All in All (Christ is all in all),' London, 1622, 8vo. 7. 'Woe to Drunkards: a Sermon,' London, 1622, 1624, 1627, 8vo. 8. 'A Peace-offering to God for the blessings we enjoy under his Majesties reign, with a Thanksgiving for the Princes safe return,' London, 1624, 8vo. 9. 'A most elegant and Religious Rapture [in verse] composed by Mr. Ward during his episcopal imprisonment. . . . Englished by John Vicars,' Latin and English, London, 1649, small sheet, fol.
A collection of his 'Sermons and Treatises,' in nine parts, was published at London, 1627-8, 8vo, and again in 1636. They were reprinted at Edinburgh, 1862, 4to, under the editorship of the Rev. J. C. Ryle, now bishop of Liverpool.
[Birch's James I, ii. 226, 228, 232; Brook's Puritans, ii. 452; Calamy's Account of Ministers, ii. 636; Clarke's Ipswich, p. 344; David's Annals of Nonconformity in Essex, p. 137; D'Ewes's Autobiogr. i. 249; Doddridge's Works (1804), v. 429, 430; Gardiner's Hist. of England, iv. 118, v. 353, viii. 118, 119; Hacket's Life of Williams (1693), i. 32, ii. 146; Leigh's Treatise of Religion and Learning, p. 361; Notes and Queries, 2nd ser. xii. 311, 379, 392, 426,440, 4th ser. i. 1, 8th ser. v. 67, 155; Parentalia, or Memoirs of the Wrens, pp. 47, 91; Rushworth's Collections, ii. 301; Ryle's Bishops and Clergy of other Days (1868), p. 125; Simpkinson's Life of Laud, p. 140; Watt's Bibl. Brit.; Wharton's Troubles and Trial of Archbishop Laud, i. 541; Wodderspoon's Memorials of Ipswich, p. 371.]
