A man of low extraction, and who never received any regular education. He was an imitator of the famous Butler, and wrote his Reformation, a poem, with an aim at the same kind of humour which has so remarkably distinguished Hudibras. 'Of late years, says Mr. Jacob, he has kept a public house in the city, but in a genteel way.' Ward was, in his own droll manner, a violent antagonist to the Low Church Whigs and in consequence, of this, drew to his house such people as had a mind to indulge their spleen against the government, by retailing little stories of treason. He was thought to be a man of strong natural parts, and possessed a very agreeable pleasantry of temper. Ward was much affronted when he read Mr. Jacob's account, in which he mentions his keeping a public house in the city, and in a book called Apollo's Maggot, declared this account to be a great falsity, protesting that his public house was not in the City, but in Moorfields[A].
The chief of this author's pieces are,
Hudibras Redivivus, a political Poem.
Don Quixote, translated into Hudibrastic Verse.
Ecclesiae & Fastio, a Dialogue between Bow-steeple Dragon, and the Exchange Grasshopper. A Ramble through the Heavens, or The Revels of the Gods.
The Cavalcade, a Poem.
Marriage Dialogues, or A Poetical Peep into the State of Matrimony.
A Trip to Jamaica.
The Sots Paradise, or The Humours of a Derby Alehouse.
A Battle without Bloodshed, or Military Discipline Buffoon'd.