THE BELFAST POLITICS, ENLARGED; BEING A COMPENDIUM OF THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF IRELAND, FOR THE LAST FORTY YEARS. COMPILED BY JOHN LAWLESS, ESQ. BELFAST: PRINTED BY D. LYONS. 1818. ADDRESS TO THE CITIZENS OF BELFAST. WHEN I first determined to collect those political pro ductions, by whose spirit and eloquence Belfast has been so peculiarly distinguished for the last forty years, I did imagine that it would have been sufficient to give to my readers a faithful and well arranged compilation, without any observation, or any reflexion, on the practice or the principles of those who have endeavoured to make the past labors of the most enlightened and valued of our countrymen tributary to their favorite object of raising the monopoly of a few, on the ruins and the degradation of the many. It is with great pain, indeed, I have witnessed the laborious struggle that has been lately made to perpetuate those jealousies, religious and political, that have already succeeded in extinguishing the name and honor of our country. It is with sorrow I peruse the overlaid pages of those authors, who think no toil too great, no industry too excessive, if they shall be R |