22 MARCH 1873, Page 3

Mr. Plimsoll has struck a powerful chord in the English

mind. Without any of the arts of the popularity-hunter, his appeal on behalf of the seamen has given him a popularity that a dema- gogue might envy and strive for in vain. His " pluck " is instinctively recognised as having an honest ring in it, and his influence, recent as its growth is, reaches to an unsuspected distance among the masses of the people. At Leeds on Sunday last he was accidentally present at a Nonconformist chapel, and -after the sermon was asked to say a few words to the crowds, -who, hearing of his arrival, had gathered to the place. The enthusiasm with which his expression of a determination at any cost to go through with the work he had taken in hand was received, is worth the attention of Parliament. Nor is it less noteworthy that in Derby, an inland town, any opposition to Mr. Plimsoll's re-election has been abandoned as hopeless since the origination of his movement on behalf of the sailors. Not one nor many actions of libel will now crush either the cause or the man.