He began by distributing all his worldly goods to the poor; he then set himself to study the sacred writings, and to render himself in all respects worthy of his high dignity. ‘The Old and the New Testament,’ says Mr. Milman, ‘met in the person of Ambrose: the implacable hostility to idolatry, the abhorrence of every deviation from the established formulary of belief;—the wise and courageous benevolence, the generous and unselfish devotion to the great interests of humanity.’ He was memorable for the grandeur and magnificence with which he invested the ceremonies of worship; they had never been so imposing. He particularly cultivated music, and introduced from the East the manner of chanting the service since called the Ambrosian chant. * * * * * Two things were especially remarkable in the life and character of St. Ambrose. The first was the enthusiasm with which he advocated celibacy in both sexes: on this topic, as we are assured, he was so persuasive, that mothers shut up their daughters lest they should be _seduced_ by their eloquent bishop into vows of chastity. The other was his determination to set the ecclesiastical above the sovereign or civil power: this principle, so abused in later times, was in the days of Ambrose the assertion of the might of Christianity, of mercy, of justice, of freedom, over heathenism, tyranny, cruelty, slavery. The dignity with which he refused to hold any communication with the Emperor Maximus, because he was stained with the blood of Gratian, and his resolute opposition to the Empress Justina, who interfered with his sacerdotal privileges, were two instances of this spirit. But the most celebrated incident of his life is his conduct with regard to the Emperor Theodosius, the last great emperor of Rome;—a man of an iron will, a despot, and a warrior. That _he_ should bend in trembling submission at the feet of an unarmed priest, and shrink before his rebuke, filled the whole world with an awful idea of the supremacy of the Church, and prepared the way for the Hildebrands, the Perettis, the Caraffas of later times. With regard to St. Ambrose, this assumption of moral power, this high prerogative of the priesthood, had hitherto been without precedent, and in this its first application it certainly commands our respect, our admiration, and our sympathy.