Mulholland, which now give employment, directly or indirectly, to many thousand persons.

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.