To these meetings on the direct study of the Bible may be added almost as many more on subjects nearly related to it.
One of these is the Bible in art. From the early days of the catacombs to the present time, themes have been drawn from it for paintings and sculpture, mosaics and glass. The old masters' work was almost wholly based on Bible stories or sacred subjects. The study of Italian art shows this in its most marked form, and many pictures should be shown. Notice also such books as "The Bible in Art" by Estelle M. Hurll, and "The Bible Beautiful," by the same author (The Page Company), and "The Gospel Story in Art," by John La Farge (Macmillan), as well as reproductions of the Tissot pictures.
The Bible in music is a theme already suggested, but meetings may be arranged on this by themselves, or each program may have selections appropriate to the day.
As a source of literary inspiration the use of the Bible is world-wide. From Milton and his successors to Browning and Tennyson, all have drawn largely from its wealth. The titles of novels, as well as their plots, have largely been taken from the same source. Roll calls might take up this topic.
What great men have said about the Bible is an interesting subject. "The Women of the Bible" is the title of a book. Shakespeare's use of the Bible has also been noticed, and could be used extensively.
CHAPTER XVII
The Age of Queen Anne
I—IMPORTANCE OF THIS PERIOD
The reign of Queen Anne, the last sovereign of the House of Stuart, is one of the important epochs in English history. McCarthy says it ranks with that of Pericles in Greece, of Augustus in Rome, and of Elizabeth in England. In war, in politics, in the spread of social democracy, and above all in literature, this was truly a remarkable period.