Shan Bullock, who needs no introduction to those who read Irish
books, has done no better work than in this tribute to one of the
noblest Irishmen Ulster has produced in modern times. I refer not only
to the literary merits of _Thomas Andrews, Shipbuilder_, which speak for
themselves, but rather to the true insight with which he has fulfilled
the precise purpose held in view by those who asked him to write this
little memorial volume. What that purpose was must be known in order
that the story itself, and the manner of the telling, may be fully
appreciated.

The book was written at the request of a few Irishmen, myself among
them, who work together in a movement which seeks to develop
agriculture, and generally to improve the condition of our rural
communities. We are deeply interested in the great achievements of
Ulster industry, because we hold strongly that the prosperity of our
country depends largely upon the mutual understanding and the
co-ordination of effort between the two great economic interests into
which the Irish, in common with most civilised peoples, are divided. For
this consummation Ireland needs, in our opinion, industrial leaders with
a broader conception of the life of the country as a whole. For such
leaders we naturally look, more especially those of us whose eyes are
turning towards the westering sun, to the younger men. Among these none
seemed to us so ideally fitted to give practical expression to our hopes
as Thomas Andrews. Thus it was the sense of the great loss the country
had sustained which set us thinking how the life of the shipbuilder who
had died so nobly could be given its due place in the history of our
times--how the lesson of that life could be handed down to the builders
of ships and of other things in the Ireland of our dreams.

The project having so originated, the proper treatment of the subject
had to be determined. Unquestionably Thomas Andrews was a hero. The wise
Bishop Berkeley has said: "Every man, by consulting his own heart, may
easily know whether he is or is not a patriot, but it is not easy for
the bystander." A man cannot thus know whether he is or is not a hero.
Both he and the bystander must wait for the occasion to arise, and the
opportunities for exhibiting heroism are as rare and perilous as those
for exhibiting patriotism are common and safe. To Thomas Andrews the
supreme test came--came in circumstances demanding almost superhuman
fortitude and self-control