In the Reverend George Frederic Scott, D.C.L., F.R.S.C., Canon of the Cathedral in Quebec since {259} 1894, Canada has a poet of high poetic seriousness of especial distinction, and with just claims to more than a national recognition. A long poem entitled _Evolution_, written by Canon Scott in 1887, stands as something unique in English-speaking poetry, in its presenting a great scientific truth with poetic expression. Of this some stanzas follow: "Life out of death, death out of life, In endless cycles rolling on, And fire-gleams flashing from the strife Of what will come and what has gone. * * * * * "But what art thou and what am I? What place is ours in all this scheme? What is it to be born and die? Are we but phases in a dream? * * * * * "And we are present, future, past-- Shall live again, have lived before. Like billows on the beaches cast Of tides that flow for evermore. * * * * * "That may be so; but to mine eyes A being of wondrous make thou art-- The point at which infinities Converge, touch, and forever part. "Thou canst not unmake what has been, Nor hold back that which is to come; We dwell upon the waste between In the small 'now' which is our home. * * * * * "But in the ages thou shalt be A link from unknown to unknown, A bridge across a darkling sea, A light on the world's pathway thrown. * * * * * "And we must pass--we shall not die; Changed and transformed, but still the same. To grander heights of mystery, To fairer realms than whence we came. {260} "God will not let His work be lost; Too wondrous is the mind of man, Too many ages has it cost The huge fulfilment of His plan. "But on we pass, for ever on, Through death to other deaths and life; To brighter lights when these are gone, To broader thought, more glorious strife, "To vistas opening out of these; To wonders shining from afar. Above the surging of the seas, Above the course of moon and star; "To higher powers of will and deed, All bounds, all limits left behind; To truths undreamt in any creed; To deeper love, more God-like mind. * * * * * "Great God! we move into the vast; All questions vain--the shadows come! We hear no answer from the past; The years before us all are dumb. "We trust Thy purpose and Thy will; We see afar the shining goal; Forgive us, if there linger still Some human fear within the soul! * * * * * "But lo! the dawn of fuller days; Horizon-glories fringe the sky! Our feet would climb the shining ways To meet man's widest destiny. "Come, then, all sorrow's recompense! The kindling sky is flaked with gold; Above the shattered screen of sense, A voice like thunder cries, 'Behold!'" In Canon Scott's _Requiescat_, in memory of General Gordon, is one of the thrilling lyrics of memorial verse: {261}