Turning - Points in the Lives of Eminent Christians. By Mary E.
Beck. (Hodder and Stoughton.)—Miss Beck does not always give us exactly what she promises ; indeed, often she has not the means of doing so. She gives a little sketch, for instance, of Cyprian of Carthage, and in the course of it tells us that up to the age of forty-five he was a heathen. But of the turning-point she can tell us nothing. What made him change ? That is a secret which he never revealed. The " turning-point " of Ambrose of Milan is even more obscure. Was he or was he not" converted," to use the language which Miss Beck, we presume, would employ, when the people clamoured for his appointment as Bishop ? Augustine tells more about himself, and the modern saints whose names appear in this volume are able to fix the moments of their change with great precision. We are not sure that the more recent experience is the more valuable. Anyhow, there is some interesting matter in this volume.
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