I visited also, with my
young Italian friend, the admirable printing establishment of
Marcus Ward and Co., the works of the Belfast Rope-work Company,
and the shipbuilding works of Harland and Wolff. There we passed
through the roar of the iron forge, the clang of the Nasmyth
hammer, and the intermittent glare of the furnaces--all telling
of the novel appliances of modern shipbuilding, and the power of
the modern steam-engine. I prefer to give a brief account of
this latter undertaking, as it exhibits one of the newest and
most important industries of Belfast. It also shows, on the part
of its proprietors, a brave encounter with difficulties, and sets
before the friends of Ireland the truest and surest method of not
only giving employment to its people, but of building up on the
surest foundations the prosperity of the country.
The first occasion on which I visited Belfast--the reader will
excuse the introduction of myself--was in 1840; about forty-four
years ago. I went thither on the invitation of the late Wm.
Sharman Crawford, Esq., M.P., the first prominent advocate of
tenant-right, to attend a public meeting of the Ulster
Association, and to spend a few days with him at his residence at
Crawfordsburn, near Bangor. Belfast was then a town of
comparatively little importance, though it had already made a
fair start in commerce and industry.
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