DR. ALEXANDER COMES HOME
MONTH'S VISIT TO ULSTER
Brings Gift for Cottage in
Pogue's Entry, Antrim.
A PAINTING BY MILLET
By a Special Correspondent.
ALEXANDER IRVINE has come
home again to see his birthplace
in Pogue's Entry, Antrim - that place of
poignant, yet happy memories, especially
when he recalls the sweet philosophy
of Anna, his mother, and the determined
struggle for very existence which Jamie,
his father, put forth in the very early
days of the now famous author's life.
Dr. Irvine has come on a month's visit to
Ulster and during that time he will conduct
the services at Newington Presbyterian Church,
Belfast, in the absence of the Moderator. On
Tuesday, accompanied by Mrs. S. E. Gilmour and
Mr. J. Herbert, Ireland two of the trustees
appointed for the purchase and reconstruction of
the cottage in Pogue's Entry, he visited the scenes
of his childhood and inspected the work of
restoring the cottage as nearly as possible to its
original state. In his book, 'My Lady of the Chimney
Corner,' he wrote, "I want to go back some day
and cover them (his father and mother) with
a slab of marble, on which their names will be
cut and these words:-
" 'Love is enough' "
PARENTS GRAVE
In the churchyard he stood quietly by the side
of the grave, saw where his wish had been fulfilled,
and into his mind there came visions of
the past.
Dr. Irvine has brought with him a signed
painting by Millet entitled "Maternity" and
which is to be hung over the mantleshelf in the
cottage. It came into his possession years ago
in New York, and he feels that this is the place
for it. Dr. Irvine is an authority on Millet and
has been lecturing on him for 25 years.
"Maternity" has been valued for as much as
œ500 and the trustees will take great care in
having safely and properly hung in the little
cottage.
Dr. Irvine proposes to send along many other
gifts, and ultimately all his art collection
and his books will go there. He feels very
grateful for what has been done in the way of
commemorating not only his own life, but
particularly the lives of his father and mother. As
he said to me on Tuesday, "I want to light up
the gloom: I want to put beauty into a hard
earthen floor."
A man of fine stature, Irvine speaks in
quiet mellow tones, and in ordinary conversation
scarcely ever raises his voice. To meet him
is to realise that his one ambition in life is
not wealth, fame, or even rest. "It is to be
of service to my fellow-men," he wrote, "for that
is my highest conception of service to God." To
men who have been worsened or imagine they
have become so in the fight of life, he can be of
special encouragement, for his own life, as he
has said, has been at times such a tempest and
at others such a clam.
Throughout the summer many people from
across the Channel and America who are familiar
with the distinguished visitor's life and work
have made a pilgrimage to Antrim to see his
shrine being restored for all time.
