New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-05-26

y ular Review" rs to be found
way over near the back cover,
: department known as EN- Cas-
..ro,e.n The article, called "Bergson and
- yellow Peril" follows:
ansal;ty. according to Bcrgson, is the life
...sss. not considered in any artificially
:.,,sted stage of its existence, but in the
rv AT Of becoming In view of this. it
- happy coincidence that, next to 'the
....tive evolution,' the chief interest of my
.-..r,.t vacation was basket of kittens.
stacking, as I often did, from the book
:. ~. basket, began to see In this restless
..zs--so absurd in its helpless fumblings, SO
,.sebinr in its blind groupings, so inexora-
.. !, It's manifestation of that push Of ir-
..sst;ble. mysterious force-an epitome of
=. Great life impulse, the rhythm of whose
,,oeress through rnatter<I seemed to feel
..re;ns about me as I read. These bits of
..t,y;ty. symbolized to me the unity of all
vis-piant animal, human.
For especially in their baby stages do
~. forms of life resemble each other. I
u,.d to watch the kittens stretching upward
ant Of their corner toward the light and
.ouod Of the outer world, their heavy heads
,vsying and humping, while, with fore paws
xtnightly taut, they sat up as tall as posi-
Ns They made me think for all the world
4 downy hepaticas with heavy headed buds
,.sehins toward the light And as they
INV into their first stage Of prettiness my
ei.ncs, when stood over them, was often
met by that look which one sees in the first
mrine flowers and in the faces of babies
81 Innocent, piercing inquiry. have buried
nv face in o clump of wild Pasque flowers
soslnes they are commonly called-and
have found their delicate, furry fragrance
hardly perceptibly different from the infant
sweetness Of nest of sun-warmcd kittens
fresh from strenuous mother washing.
1T was not long before they were seething
ever the edge of their basket in inimitable
Illustration of Bergsons figure of the wave
/ al life pushing out over matter. The crest
q the wave was always the yellow Peril
/ 10 named from his color and from his habit
Of ruthless ploughing over and through
\ brothers. and sisters in the meal time rush.
With a Bergsonian eye / looked on him as
tie point Of highest consciousness, and,
from the moment. when he broke upon the
Il world beyond the basket, I felt that saw,
not Cal, one of the higher instructive forms,
!. but Conscious Life, progressing beyond.
4 mere instinct into intelligence.
"He turned metaphysician and searched
. for Being In the course Of three or four
: weeks he ran through rapid succession of
. philosophical hypothesis. At first, pursuing
/ the empirical method, he fairly reeled
| through excitement after excitement Of dis
eovery Expanses of carpet and, beyond
that, reaches of shiny floor spread out be-
fore him, and in another dimension more
Being, sofas and legs of chairs. offered in
finite possibility for research.
1But presently assurance melted. On
waking one day from d nap and setting out
to renew explorations, he found beneath his
feet not the familiar carpet and polished
door, but rough attic boards. The kitten
band set forth tremulous and bewildered,
and seemed relieved before long to be
helped back into the basket. In the shelter
Of its protecting sides / knew what theory
the fellow Peril was proponnding:
This changing outside world is an illu-
sive show. The basket only is permanent
and abiding
Soon however, he struck out in another
irection-that Of intuition, pronounced 1t,
With finger between pages of the creative
svclution.' When the world about him
IVAN, what was this comforting something
80 the investigating bullet-head seemed to
sendey-whch bent above him, handled him
soothingly, and spoke, though differently
from his mother, caressingly? From the
moment when | came up the attic stairs to
ind tho nork craninr
out toward me l felt as though here were
spirit calling to spirit, not so much through
The piercing walls as though those bright
eyes fastened yearningly on mine, as if he
~ould<pull himself up to me by their attrac-
fons He almost fell out Of the basket to
meet me as picked him up But oh, woe!
pinllason was again in store. For, from
where he chung against my shirtwaist, the
Vision of what he had dimly perceived was
gone, Too close to what he sought to rec
sosnize 1t, he rent the air once more with
his cries, like many another unbeliever. A
metaphysician can seldom transcend his in
s4llsct.
sStraightway he turned skeptic and sub
aess'vist-would have no more OF aspira-
uoas or of discoveries,
Seek for nothing outside Of yourselves
fet that he was saying to the kittens
The Cat is the World ~ M
He developed quite q swagger at this
Tine and on being reystablished downstairs
sftained to considerable prowess in climb
ing, in which his purpose seemed to be no
Nagsr discovery. but the ENJOYMENT Of his
own cleverness. His less daring brothers
AID sisters, reaching, tentative paws up the
AIDE of the, sofa, would watch him as he
eapered about the top. The descent was
SUI somewhat serious matter. Once, after
e instant's dubious halt. he started on a
neadlong slide. Just in time ! pulled out
we hanging couch cover to make an incline,
which, preventing bad humping on the
4 esoor, landed him softly in the basket. He
brought Up with flourish.
Trust in yourselves he seemed to adj
do,
began to despair. Could anything,
Wondered. deliver CONSEQUENCES from the
Afslldom Of intellect?
"A the kittens grew and began to play
sat q doors the Peril continued persistent