Simple Cobler of Aggawam, The

Simple Cobler of Aggawam, The, satirical work by Nathaniel Ward, published under the pseudonym Theodore de la Guard (London, 1647), Theodore being the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew Nathaniel, and de la Guard a free French rendering of Ward. Aggawam was the original name of Ipswich, Mass., and the sobriquet “simple cobler” is explained in the subtitle: “Willing to help 'mend his Native Country, lamentably tattered, both in the upper‐Leather and sole, with all the honest stitches he can take.” The book is a partisan denunciation of undue tolerance in England and New England of the strife between Parliament and Charles I and of the frivolity of women and foppish fashions of men. In the style of a belated euphuist, Ward grumbles sincerely but wittily concerning all his particular dislikes. His manner recalls the Elizabethan pamphleteers, such as Nashe, Harvey, and Greene.