against members of the old faith, and, in spite of the
prejudice which then existed against trade, some of the younger sons of
good Catholic families betook themselves to commerce. Hence the father of
Miss Ambrose gained wealth as a brewer in Dublin, and left a considerable
sum between his two daughters. The earl of Chesterfield, being warned
before he came to Ireland that he would have much trouble from the
Catholic party, wrote back soon after his arrival that the only "dangerous
Papist" he met was Miss Ambrose, a title by which she was known ever
after. Many graceful compliments paid to her by the courtly earl testify
to his admiration of her beauty and accomplishments. On seeing her wear an
orange lily on the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne he addressed her
in the following impromptu:

Say, lovely traitress, where's the jest
Of wearing orange on thy breast,
When underneath that bosom shows
The whiteness of the rebel rose?

On another occasion, Miss Ambrose being present when the freedom of the
corporation of Drogheda was presented to the viceroy in a gold box of
exquisite workmanship, she laughingly asked him to give it to her.
"Madame," said Chesterfield, "you have too much of my freedom already."
The lady eventually married a county Mayo gentleman of large fortune
named Palmer, and lived to the age of ninety-eight, forming a connecting
link between two very distant periods. In her extreme old age Sheil paid
her a visit, the admiration which Lord Chesterfield was known to entertain
for her having induced him to seek an introduction to her. Although rich,
he found her occupying a small lodging in Henry street, where she lived
secluded and alone. "Over the chimney-piece of the front drawing-room was
suspended the picture of her Platonic idolater. It was a half-length
portrait, and had been given her by the man of whose adoration she was so
virtuously vain." While Sheil was striving to image to himself the
fascinations of the "dangerous Papist," the door was opened: a volume of
smoke had previously filled the room, and the rush of air causing it to
spread in huge wreaths around her, "a weird and withered form stood in the
midst of the dispersing vapor." Lady Palmer was a most vehement Catholic.
Lord Chesterfield and the Catholic question were the only subjects in
which she seemed to take any interest. On the wrongs of her country she
expatiated with both energy and eloquence, but when her visi