LONDON : JAMES BURNS, 17 PORTMAN STREET, PORTMAN SQUARE. 1843. LONDON : I NTEH HY ROBSON, LKVEY, AND K H A N K I.YN, Great Nev Street, Fetter Lane. <&T0 Ambrose Oft in life's stillest shade reclining. In desolation unrepining ; Without a hope on earth to find A mirror in an answering mind — Meek souls there are, who little dream Their daily strife an angel's theme ; Or that the rod they take so calm, Shall prove in heaven a martyr's palm. Keble. u I should like to introduce you to an old friend of mine/' said Mr. Walton to the new clergyman. " He is a remarkable instance of the clearness of views and the consistent practice which a regular and attentive, though uneducated, church-goer will acquire. I have more respect — nay, almost reverence — for 11 » 1 4 OLD AMBROSE. Old Ambrose, though a poor old labouring man, than for almost any one I know." Mr. Hammond expressed his readiness to become acquainted with one of whom his friend spoke so highly. " What say you, Anna and Elizabeth?" said Mr. Walton, turning to his two daugh- ters. " Suppose we dine early to-morrow, and take Mr. Hammond in the evening to see Old Ambrose ?" The young ladies gladly assented to the proposal, for the good old man was a great favourite with them as well as with their father. The evening was calm and pleasant, when the party set out on their walk, according to previous arrangement, to see Old Ambrose. It was one of those delicious midsummer evenings, which one almost hopes will never come to a close, like the calm old age of a Christian, when the heat and burden of mid- day life is past. " Elizabeth must tell you all about our old friend/' said Mr. Walton; " for she it was that first became acquainted with him." Elizabeth, however, requested that her father would relate the circumstances. So he con- tinued : — V We first knew him by sight, from ob- serving him at church, Sunday after Sunday, always occupying the same place in the fifth row of the middle aisle/' OLD AMBROSE. " O, you mean the old man with white hair," said Mr. Hammond, " I have myself been much struck by his appearance, and intended to take an opportunity of making acquaintance with him << It is the same/' said Mr. Walton. " For a long time, I never missed him from his ac- customed place. There he was seated, gene- rally before we came into church ; and if he happened to be rather later, which was very seldom the case, the old frequenters of the free-seats used to leave his place unoccupied, being quite sure that he would come. At last, I missed him for two Sundays ; so I inquired where he lived, and went to look for him. " It was a small and poor-looking cottage in the outskirts of the town. When I ar- rived at the door and knocked, no answer 6 OLD AMBROSE was returned. I raised the latch, and en- tered ; still no one appeared. The hearth was cold, and the lower part of the house was apparently unoccupied. I gently opened the inner door which led to the upper part of the cottage ; and on listening, I heard a voice which was familiar to me : — it was Elizabeth reading the Scriptures to the old man, who lay apparently on his death-bed. His daughter was supporting his head, and his grandchildren kneeling by the bed-side ; it was an affecting, yet gratifying sight. I was delighted to find that Elizabeth had been before -hand with me in relieving the wants of the poor family, for they were really in great distress : the daughter, who was a widow, being unable to go out to her work, on account of the old man's illness. How- ever, it pleased God that he should recover." (Mr. Walton did not say that it was instru- mentally owing to the kindness of himself and his daughters, in providing him with proper necessaries and medical advice.) " This was the way,' ' he continued, " in which we first became acquainted with Old Ambrose. Afterwards I saw a good deal of him, and found him, as well as his family, so much to my liking, that I moved them to my farm, and established Sarah, the daughter, as superintendent of the dairy. Old Am- brose does what he can on the farm, and that willingly ; but it is not much," OLD AMBROSE. 7 The party had by this time walked about a mile from the town along the main road, and then turned off by a path which led through Mr. Walton's estate. It wound pleasantly along some meadows by the side of a small stream shaded with alders, until it brought them to a place where the water was dammed up, and formed a pool of five or six acres, the banks of which had been planted with much taste. They crossed over a rustic bridge, 8 OLD AMBROSE. and came immediately to an old farm-house with gables and mullioned windows, which Mr. Walton had made his dairy. The old- fashioned garden, with its regular walks and borders edged with box, was kept up just as it had been formerly ; and a venerable mulberry-tree spread its shade around. It was indeed a very pleasant spot. They found Old Ambrose seated on a wooden bench in the porch, hearing his two little grandchildren read a portion of the Scriptures, as was his usual habit, before they went to rest. The contrast between youth and age— the silver locks of the aged man, and the curly heads of the children — the calm gravity of the former, and the eager alacrity which beamed in the counte- nances of the latter, — presented a beautiful picture. The old man rose from his seat, and wel- comed the visitors with a respectful bow. " Good evening, Ambrose/' said Mr. Wal- ton ; " | have brought a new friend to see you — Mr. Hammond, our new clergyman." " I am very glad to make acquaintance with you," said the curate, holding out his hand to the old man. " I ought to have done so sooner, for you are one of the most regular of my congregation." *' God bless you," said Old Ambrose; * ' the clergy have been kind friends to me all OLD AMBROSE 9 my life ; and I think it was a good day when you came amongst us, sir." It does not take long for good Christian Churchmen, whatever may be their difference of station, to become acquainted with each other. The young curate and the old man were soon on the most friendly terms ; and Mr. Walton and the whole party were seated round the ample porch. " I have been tell- ing Mr. Hammond," said he, " how you and I came to be acquainted, and he is very anxious to hear the rest of your history." The old man was easily led on to relate to them the few particulars of his life ; and the following is the substance of his simple narrative : " My time lias passed away in much the same manner as that of hundreds of others in my station. I have had many trials, but many more mercies, in my clay. I have been a hard-workmg man from my youth up. Year after year, and day after day, from sunrise to sun- set, I have laboured for my bread. My chief pride has been to give my master an honest day's work for his wages ; and when one"day's work was done, my chief care has been to be sure of work 10 OLD AMBROSE, to-morrow. Many's the time I have not been sure how to get my daily bread ; but somehow or other, God has always provided for me. " I was born at the little village of A , just on the other side of the town ; and I do not know that I ever was ten miles from it except once, when I drove farmer Yolkhanrs famous beast that won the prize at the cattle-show. My father and mother had four children, and I was the eldest. All the learning I ever got was at the Sunday-school. We were taught to read, but not to write. The clergyman used to take great pains to teach us the Church Catechism, and tell us the privileges of our baptism ; and that if we prayed earnestly, and strove, and trusted in God, he would give us strength through the Holy Ghost to persevere in keeping his laws to our lives' end. He used to have us before him in church after the second lesson, and ask us questions be- fore the congregation. They have left off that custom now in all the churches ; but it was a good Avay of teaching poor folks ; and the children's parents used to think a good deal about it. OLD AMBROSE. 11 I " When I was about fourteen I got I wiklish, and used to go out with other I boys bird-nesting and rat-hunting, and I sometimes played truant on Sundays ; I which hurt my father more than any I thing, for he was very anxious about I his children, and took great pains to I train us in good ways. « I remember — indeed I have good I reason to remember — going one Sun- day with some other boys arid snaring I a hare. It was the first and last I ever I snared, and I was very proud of it, and I thought 1 had done a fine thing ; though I knew it was wrong, for my father had I often told me so. My father heard what I I had done. He was a mild but reso- I lute man, not subject to violent passion, I but firm and determined. I shall never forget the look he gave me. ' So you have been snaring a hare,' said he, ' when I ordered you not.' I was all , of a tremble, for he took out a large clasp-knife, and opened it, looking at me very sternly. He got up and walked out at the cottage-door. I could not think what he was going to do ; how- ever, 1 soon found out, for he came k back with a thickish ash-plant, which 12 OLD AMBROSE. he had put out of the garden-hedge and, taking me by the collar, gave me the soundest thrashing I ever had in my life. ^ < Now go to bed/ said be, ' and I will talk to you more about it to-morrow.' " Next day, about the same time, he called me to him; and 'seeing that I was very penitent, he spoke to me with great kindness. 'Ambrose/ said he, ' I am glad to see vou ashamed of yourself for what you have clone. It was a very sinful deed. You have broken three of God's commandments. You broke the fourth commandment, in not keeping the Lord's day holy' but going after your own pleasure j you broke the fifth commandment, in not honouring and obeying your father; you broke the eighth commandment' which says, 6 Thou shalt not steal:' the hare you killed belonged to the squire, because it Was bred and fed on his land, and he is at great expense to take care of them. So that you sinned agains* your duty co God, and your dutv to- wards your neighbour. Let me never hear of your doing the like again.' I promised him that he should note OLD AMBROSE. 13 6 Well, we will talk no more about it ; I can assure you, my son, it hurt me to beat you quite as much as it hurt you to be beaten. It is the first time I ever did go, and I hope it will be the last. Perhaps this beating will save you from being a thief and a poacher/ « And so it did : I never poached again. And often, when I have seen the evil courses which others have fallen into who began first by snaring a hare, and their parents encouraged them, I have thanked God for giving me a good parent, who checked me at the first. " My father was kinder than ever to me afterwards, and I soon forgot the beating, though the good effects of it remained. Soon after there hap- pened what I have always looked on as the most important event in all my life. The clergyman gave out m the church, that the bishop would come to the town of in about six weeks, and all the young people were to go to the cathedral to be confirmed. I did not very much heed it at the time, and thought only about having a holyday ; but when I got home, my father said 14 OLD AMBROSE. to me, < Ambrose, this is a very serious business : you are going; to renew, in the presence of God, the promises and vows which were made for you at your baptism, and so secure a continuance ot txod's blessing. I wish yon to know thoroughly what you are going to do. Uie clergyman has given notice that he intends to explain all about it to you every Tuesday and Thursday, at half- past six o'clock in the evening; and I would have you go every day without tail, lor he can teach you more about it than I can/ I was going to tell my tether, that that was just the time when 1 had to take home farmer YoJkham's horses, but he prevented me; 'I will speak to your master, and I have no doubt he will let me look to the horses ior you/ " Farmer Yolkham readily consented, and let me off from my work a quarter ol an hour earlier, in order that I might clean myself before going to the par- sonage. So I went regularly twice a-week, with about twenty other boys • the girls went on Wednesdays and Fri- days Some of the boys took it very lightly, and thought all they had to do OLD AMBROSE. 15 was to say the Catechism by heart ; but God gave me the understanding to see that it was a business of great import- ance, and 1 was very anxious to learn thoroughly what it was that I was go- ing to take upon myself. The clergy- man went step by step through the Catechism with us, explaining every part of it ; shewing us that we were made God's children at baptism, and pledged by our sponsors to walk ac- cording to God's laws, and to believe in him and obey him all the days ot our life. Then he shewed us what we were to believe, and what we were to do as it is summed up in the creed and the commandments, and how we were to seek, by prayer, for God's assistance without which we could do nothing. All this he taught us carefully ; and to those who were inattentive, he explained it over and over again. I am sure it any of us did not quite understand it, and perceive the great importance ot it, it was not his fault. The day before we went, he had us all before him at the church, boys and girls as well, and a good many of the parents came. He told us, that as he had so olten ques- 16 OLD AMBROSE, tioned us, and was satisfied with our answers, he should not do so again, but would take the opportunity of speak- ing to us about what we were to do when we went to the cathedral the next clay. He then bade us open our prayer-books, and he went through the confirmation-service, shewing us where we were to answer, and how we were to behave ourselves. And then he told us, that though it was necessary that we should perform our parts of the ser- vice respectfully and reverently, yet it was on the frame and disposition of mind in which we renewed our solemn engagement with God, that the benefit of confirmation mainly depended ; and he bade us pray earnestly for God's grace to enable us to do our parts heartily and sincerely. I paid great attention to what he said, for he spoke to us as if we were his own children; and I prayed that night and the next morning more earnestly than I had ever done before. u It was a day I shall never forget as long as I live, because I think that I began to make improvement from that time. The sun shone brightly and OLD AMBROSE. 17 cheerfully as we walked to the town. There was a cart with benches in it, which held about a dozen girls ; and they went in it, half and half at a time, the rest walking with the schoolmis- tress : the boys went behind with the master. When we got to the great door of the cathedral, the clergyman met us very kindly, and led us in with him, and ranged us all in order. There were three or four hundred besides our- selves, and a beautiful sight it was. Most of the boys and girls behaved very well, though some were too much looking about them ; but when the ser- vice began, we all listened very atten- tively. I remember I was sitting near the bishop ; and when he asked us the question, 6 Do ye here, in the presence of God and of this congregation, renew the solemn promise and vow which was made in your name at your baptism, ratifying and confirming the same # in your own persons, and acknowledging yourselves bound to believe and do all those things which your godfathers and godmothers then undertook for you? 7 I answered, 6 I do, so loud that the bishop looked at me, as if he was glad o 18 OLD AMBROSE. to hear me speak so heartily ; and I thought he remembered it again when he came to put his hand on my head. I felt very humbled and grateful to (rod when the bishop blessed me and prayed for me, saying, 'Defend, O Lord, this thy child with thy heavenly grace, that he may continue thine for ever, and daily increase in thy Holy Spirit more and more until he come to thy everlasting kingdom/ I knew that the bishop stood in the place of the apostles, and had a divine commission from God to pronounce his blessing upon his servants. Afterwards, when he went to his throne to address us, you might have heard a pin drop. He us over again, but in more grave and solemn language than the clergyman, the meaning of what we had been doing, and the nature of the engagements into which we had now entered for ourselves. He told us that we were now pledged, by our own pro- mise, to keep God's commandments, and that we must keep them not in the letter only, but in the spirit. Con- firmation, he said, was often a great turning-point in life. If we sincerely OLD AMBROSE 19 prayed to God, and resolved from thenceforth to walk in his ways, our lives would be satisfactory and lull ot comfort ; whether we were rich or poor, servants or masters, it mattered not, while God was with us, and we were in good hope of obtaining glory hereafter. But it' we forgot our pro- mises, we should get into bad ways, and grow continually worse and worse, and be miserable in this world, and eternally lost in the next. " After this, he concluded by telling tis that it would be our high privilege to partake of the body and blood ot Christ our Lord ; and he earnestly ad- vised us to begin on the first opportu- nity, and continue it through life. ^ " It is more than sixty years since that dav ; but I never see the grey spires of the cathedral peering over the hill, but I think on the promises and vows which I made in the presence of God and the congregation, and fancy I hear again the bishop's text, ' Con- tinue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured ot, knowing of whom thou hast learned them, and that from a child thou hast 20 OLD AMBROSE. known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus' (2 Tim. iii. 14, 15). That day was in- deed blessed by God to my profit. I began to pray both night and morning more regularly and earnestly than I had done, and to think more about what I was doing. I went regularly with my father to church, morning and evening • and always attended the'lord's supper! Some of the young fellows about my age laughed at me, and said it was time enough when I was an old man to go twice a-day to church, and attend the sacrament. But I told them, < I did not know that I ever should be an old man; and that the bishop, as well as the clergyman, had advised us to be