William Ewart Gladstone, 'Daniel O'Connell', The Nineteenth Century, No. CXLIII (January 1889), p. 152
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It is, however, a misnomer to call him a demagogue. If I may coin a word for the occasion, he was an ethnagogue. He was not the leader either of plebs or populus against optimates: he was the leader of a nation; and this nation, weak, outnumbered, and despised, he led, not always unsuccessfully, in its controversy with another nation, the strongest perhaps and the proudest in Europe.

— William Ewart Gladstone

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "It is, however, a misnomer to call him a demagogue. If I may coin a word for the occasion, he was an ethnagogue. He was not the leader either of plebs or populus against optimates: he was the leader of a nation; and this nation, weak, outnumbered, and despised, he led, not always unsuccessfully, in its controversy with another nation, the strongest perhaps and the proudest in Europe." in the context of "William Ewart Gladstone, 'Daniel O'Connell', The Nineteenth Century, No. CXLIII (January 1889), p. 152" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Daniel O'Connell" (Quotes about Daniel O'Connell) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Daniel O

About Daniel O'Connell

Daniel O'Connell (Irish language: Dónal Ó Conaill; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was a political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilisation of Catholic Ireland through to the poorest class of tenant farmer helped secure Catholic emancipation in 1829 and allowed him to take his seat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom after he was elected a second time.