quicken the pace, and after a short speech at the Albert Memorial, the _cortege_ disappeared over the bridge, and I returned to meet the English working men who arrived an hour later. Splendid it was to hear the six hundred miners from Newcastle-on-Tyne shouting "Old Ireland for ever!" while the generous Irishmen responded with "Rule Britannia" and cheers for Old England. Cheers for Belfast and Newcastle alternated with such stentorian vigour, each side shouting for the other, that you might have been excused for imagining that the Union of Hearts was an accomplished fact, and that brotherly love had begun and must ever continue. Said a miner, "We're all surprised to see that the people here are just like Englishmen. An' I'm blest if they aren't more loyal than the English themselves." From Monday morning the city has been resounding with beat of drum and the shrill sounds of the fife. The houses are swathed in bunting, and the public buildings were already covered with banners when I arrived on Friday last. This, however is not characteristic Belfast form. The Belfasters _can_ rejoice, and whatever they do, is thoroughly done, but work is their vocation, as befits their grave and sober mood. They are great at figures, and by them they try to show that they, and not the Dubliners, should be first considered. They are practical, and although not without sentiment, avoid all useless manifestation of mere feeling. They are mainly utilitarian, and prefer mathematical proof, on which they themselves propose to rely, in proving their case. Here is an instance. A Belfast accountant, who is also a public officer, has collected a number of comparative figures on which he bases the claims of Belfast to prior consideration. The figures are certainly exact, and are submitted as evidence of the superior business management, and larger, keener capacity of Protestant Belfast as compared with those of Catholic Dublin. Beginning with the functions of the Dublin Lord Mayor, secretary, and so forth, which cost L4,967 a year, it is shown that the same work in Belfast--which is rather larger than Dublin--costs only L176. Let us tabulate a few representative cases:-- Dublin. Belfast. Mayor, &c. L4,967 L176 Town Clerk, secretaries of committees, law agents 5,659 2,752 Treasurer, accountants, stock registrar 3,402 2,168 Fire Brigade, salaries and lighting 3,616 1,247 Coroners, sanitary officials 3,530 1,310 Wages of sanitary staff 2,233 1,130 Surveyors (borough & waterworks) and Secretaries 6,070 4,472 Clerks of Peace and Revision Officers 2,451 1,552 ------ ------ Totals L31,928 L14,807