16 OCTOBER 1841, Page 11

The preacher was the Reverend Samuel Jones, Rector of Ardcannyl

We copy the Reporter- " The reverend gentleman having proceeded for a short tine on general topics, bent his regards immediately towards the corporation, and proceeded to deal with them as he conceived his bounden duty and as truth dictated. He said that their hour was fast drawing to a close; and he asked them to lay their hands to their hearts and say, did they ,wt deserve the doom that awaited them ? (Sensation.) ,He stood there not to flatter or to fawn, but to speak the words of honest conviction; and he again asked, did not their own judg- ment pronounce them unfit to fill the places they had occupied for so long a period? (Increased sensation.) Re saw that they were displeased ; but he would once more demand, was not their doom a just one ? had they ever cared for the public more than for themselves? had they rightfully performed the weighty duties of the stewardship committed to their care ? were they not laborious, and constant, and indefatigable, not in using the funds with which they were intrusted for the public advantage but in squandering them with lavish disregard to conscience and duty, or in placing them in the pockets of in- dividuals who grew rich on the spoliation of thepeople? (Awful sensation, during which more than one Alderman turned pale.) He was not there to apologize for their crimes against the community, or to sympathize with their doom. He knew that his words were not pleasing to the senses of those to whom he addressed them ; but he would be false to his conscience and a traitor to the cause of religion, if he did not say that, in their extinction, the public, be was convinced, would be the gainers. (Continued sensation, during which one or two of the Aldermen stood up, and appeared very much troubled.

The reverend gentleman continued in this strain for a very long time, driving the dagger home at every blow ; and having discharged his duty in this parti- cular, he turned his attention to the conduct of the Protestant Bishop, who, he said, conferred emoluments and dignities on his own personal relatives, to the injury and prejudice of hard-working labourers in the vineyard. He then concluded a sermon the like of which had never been heard in Limerick, we believe, amid the surprise of every one present."