TIME AND CHANGE 



II 



Hence it is that when one reaches the Grand 

 Canon of the Colorado, if he has kept his eyes and 

 mind open, he is prepared to see striking and unusual 

 things. But he cannot be fully prepared for just 

 what he does see, no matter how many pictures of 

 it he may have seen, or how many descriptions of it 

 he may have read. 



A friend of mine who took a lively interest in my 

 Western trip wrote me that he wished he could have 

 been present with his kodak when we first looked 

 upon the Grand Canon. Did he think he could 

 have got a picture of our souls ? His camera would 

 have shown him only our silent, motionless forms 

 as we stood transfixed by that first view of the stu- 

 pendous spectacle. Words do not come readily to 

 one's lips, or gestures to one's body, in the presence 

 of such a scene. One of my companions said that 

 the first thing that came into her mind was the old 

 text, "Be still, and know that I am God." To be 

 still on such an occasion is the easiest thing in the 

 world, and to feel the surge of solemn and reveren- 

 tial emotions is equally easy; is, indeed, almost in- 

 evitable. The immensity of the scene, its tranquil- 

 lity, its order, its strange, new beauty, and the 

 monumental character of its many forms — all these 

 tend to beget in the beholder an attitude of silent 

 wonder and solemn admiration. I wished at the 



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