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 486 BELFAST BELFORT Lagan, near its embou- chure in Belfast bay, 88 m. N. N. E. of Dub- lin; pop. in 1871, 174,- 394 (an increase of nearly 100,000 since 1841). The site of the greater part of the town is low and flat, having been reclaimed from the marshy banks of the Lagan. The riv- er is 250 yards wide, and is crossed by three bridges and two ferries. The streets are regular and spacious, macad- amized, and well light- ed. A conspicuous ar- chitectural ornament is the Albert memorial tower, erected in mem- Albert Memorial Tower. ory of the prince consort, and finished in 1870. It is 140 ft. in height, and is built in the Vene- tian Gothic style, and elaborately ornamented. In a niche 32 ft. from the ground stands a statue of Prince Albert ; above this portion of the tower is a large clock, and above this again Queen's College. a belfry. In 1871 there were 80 places of worship, of which 21 were Episcopal (church of Ireland), 28 Presbyterian, 15 Methodist, and 5 Roman Catholic. At the head of its educa- tional institutions is the Queen's college, built of brick and stone at an expense of over 25,000, and opened in 1849. It stands in a conspicuous position in the midst of large grounds, and near the botanic garden. For the maintenance of the institution 7,000 a year is allowed. The " General Assembly college " was opened Dec. 5, 1853, and the Methodist college, erected by voluntary subscriptions at a cost of 24,000, Aug. 19, 1868. There are besides the royal aca- demical institution, founded in 1810, the Bel- fast academy, the Lancasterian school, and nu- merous national schools and private seminaries. Belfast has many charitable and benevolent institutions; a natural history society ; a royal botanical and horticultural society ; a society for the promotion of knowledge; a teachers' association ; a theatre ; and a mechanics' insti- tute. In 1871 there were 14 newspapers, one of which dates from 1737. Belfast is the great depot of the linen trade of the north of Ireland, and is also the chief seat of manufactures of cotton and linen. There are also distilleries, breweries, flour mills, founderies, tan yards, vitriol works, saw mills, and extensive ship and rope yards. Steamers ply regularly be- tween Belfast and London, Liverpool, Fleet- wood, Carlisle, Whitehaven, Glasgow, Green- ock, Stranraer, Ardrossan, and Dublin. Three railways diverge from it: N. W., the Northern Counties railway ; N. E., the County Down, and S. W., the Ulster railway, in connection with a line to Dublin. The commerce of Bel- fast is extensive. In 1866 the imports amounted to 12,447,000, and the exports to 11,915,000. In 1870 8,303 vessels, of 1,225,566 tons, entered the port. New docks were opened in August, 1872, one of them being named after Lord Duflferin. Belfast is a comparatively modern town. It was erected into a municipality and parliamentary borough early in the 17th cen- tury. During the civil war in that century it was besieged and taken four times in six years. In consequence of the repeal of the procession act by parliament, Bel- fast was in August, 1872, the scene of se- rious troubles between the Orangemen and the Roman Catholics ; the riots continuing for sev- eral days, with consider- able loss of property and life, until they were sup- pressed by military force. BELFORT, or Befort, a fortiiied town of France, formerly in the department of Haut-Rhin, on the Savoureuse, 75 m. S. S. W. of Strasburg ; pop. in 1866, 8,400. It has manufactures of iron, paper, hats, and printed calico, and was formerly one of the chief entrepots of the French trade with Germany and Switzer- land. It is of great importance in a military point of view, as it controls the Trouee de Belfort, the passage between the Vosges and the Jura. The town was ceded to France by Austria by the treaty of Westphalia in 1648, at which time it was a place of little strength, but the French made it a fortress of the second rank. The Germans besieged i it in November, 1870, and it capitulated on