While spoken language， along with the writing and printing by which it is preserved and disseminated， in the main current of communication， there are from the start many side channels.
Thus among savage or barbarous peoples we everywhere find， beside gesture language， the use of a multitude of other symbols， such as the red arrow for war， the pipe of peace， signal fires， notched sticks， knotted cords， totems， and， among nations more advanced in culture， coats-of-arms， flags and an infinite diversity of symbolic ritual.There is， indeed， a world of signs outside of language， most of which， however， we may pass by， since its general nature is obvious enough.
The arts of painting， sculpture， music， and architecture.considered as communication， have two somewhat different functions： First， as mere picture or image writing， conveying ideas that could also be conveyed (though with a difference) in words； and， second， as thc vehicle of peculiar phases of sentiment incommunicable in any other way.These two were often， indeed usually， combined in the art of the past.In modern times the former， because of the diffusion of literacy， has become of secondary importance Of the picture-writing function the mosaics， in colors on a gold ground， that cover the inner walls of St.Mark's at Venice are a familiar instance.
They set forth in somewhat rude figures， helped out by symbols， the whole system of Christian theology as it was then understood.They were thus an illuminated book of sacred learning through which the people entered into the religious tradition.The same tradition is illustrated in the sculpture of the cathedrals of Chartres and Rheims， together with much other matter梥ecular history， typified by figures of the kings of France；moral philosophy， with virtues and _ices， rewards and punishments； and emblems of husbandry and handicraft.Along with these sculptures went the pictured windows， the sacred relics梬hich， as Gibbon says， "fixed and inflamed the devotion of the faithful" 梩he music， and the elaborate pageants and ritual； all working together as one rich sign， in which was incarnated the ideal life of the times.
A subtler function of the non-verbal arts is to communicate matter that could not go by any other road， especially certain sorts of sentiment which are thus per.petuated and diflused.
One of the simplest and most fruitful examples of this is the depiction of human forms and faces which embody！ as if by living presence， the nobler feelings and apirations of the time.Such works， in painting or sculpture， ret main as symbols by the aid of which like sentiments grow up in the minds of whomsoever become familiar with them Sentiment is cumulative in human history in the same manner as thought， though less definitely and surely， and Christian feeling， as it grew and flourished in the Middle Ages， was fostered by painting as much， perhaps， as by the Scriptures.
And so Greek sculpture， from the time of the humanists down through Winckelmann and Goethe to the present day， has been a channel by which Greek sentiment has flowed into modern life.
This record of human feeling in expressive forms and faces， as in the madonnas and saints of Raphael， is called by some critics "illustration"；and they distinguish it from "decoration，" which includes all those elements in a work of art which exist not to transmit something else but for their own more immediate value， such as beauty of color， form， composition and suggested movement.This latter is communication also， appealing to vivid but other wise inarticulate phases of human instinct.Each art can convey a unique kind of sentiment and has "its own peculiar and incommunicable sensuous charm， its own special mode of reaching the imagination." In a picture the most characteristic thing is "that true pictorial quality.
..the inventive or creative handling of pure line and color， which， as almost always in Dutch painting， as often also in the works of Titian or Veronese， is quite independent of anything definitely poetical in the subject it accompanies." in music "the musical charm梩hat essential music， which presents no words， no matter of sentiment or thought， separable from the special form in which it is conveyed to us."{ And so with architecture， an art peculiarly close to social organization， so that in many cases梐s in the Place of Venice梩he spirit of a social system has been visibly raised up in stone.
It needs no argument， I suppose， to show that these arts are no less essential to the growth of the human spirit than literature or government.
End notes On the probability that song preceded speech， see Darwin， Descent of Man， chap.19.Decline and Fall， Milman-Smith edition， i， 354.The Cambridge Modern History， i， 684， 685.Milton， Areopagitiea.Bacon， Antitheta on Studies.Decline and Fall， Milman-Smith edition， iii， 428.Walter Pater， Essay on the School of Giorgione.
