Editing Isaac Ambrose (section)

==Character assessment==
As a religious writer Ambrose has a vividness and freshness of imagination possessed by scarcely any of the [[Puritan]] Nonconformists. Many who have no love for Puritan doctrine, nor sympathy with Puritan experience, have appreciated the [[pathos]] and beauty of his writings, and his ''Looking unto Jesus'' long held its own in popular appreciation with the writings of [[John Bunyan]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

Dr [[Edmund Calamy the Elder]] (1600–1666) wrote about him:
{{blockquote|Ambrose was a man of that substantial worth, that eminent piety, and that exemplary life, both as a minister and a Christian, that it is to be lamented the world should not have the benefit of particular memoirs of him.{{sfn|Bailey|1885|p=350}}}}

In the opinion of John Eglington Bailey (his biographer in the [[Dictionary of National Biography|DNB]]), his character has been misrepresented by Wood. He was of a peaceful disposition; and though he put his name to the fierce "Harmonious Consent", he was not naturally a partisan. He evaded the political controversies of the time. His gentleness of character and earnest presentation of the gospel attached him to his people. He was much given to secluding himself, retiring every May into the woods of Hoghton Tower and remaining there a month.{{sfn|Bailey|1885|p=350}}

Bailey continues that Dr. Halley justly characterises him as the most meditative puritan of Lancashire. This quality pervades his writings, which abound, besides, in deep feeling and earnest piety. Mr. Hunter has called attention to his recommendation of diaries as a means of advancing personal piety, and has remarked, in reference to the fragments from Ambrose's diary quoted in the "Media", that "with such passages before us we cannot but lament that the carelessness of later times should have suffered such a curious and valuable document to perish; for perished it is to be feared it has".{{sfn|Bailey|1885|pp=350–351}}