Book Description

Excerpt from The Life of Daniel O'connell Gladstone said of o'connell, He was the greatest popular leader whom the world has ever seen. That, I think, exactly describes o'connell's position in the world's history. His place is among the immortal. Leaders of humanity. He was really the first of political agitators. He was ww. Wee - influence is y no means confined to his native country. His teachings have modified the political ideas of the world. Before his time it was generally accepted that great reforms could only be wrested from the govern ing classes by brute force. He showed how the bounds of freedom might be enlarged without any violent subversion of law or authority. He was the inventor of popular agitation, as it is now pursued in all constitutionally governed countries - that system by which the will of the people, as regards the making of laws, the removal of abuses, the granting of reforms, finds expression in political, social, and trade organisations, with scattered branches under a central executive, and members subscribing to a common fund; in the registration of voters, and in meet ings and demonstrations and processions, with bands and banners. He brought the people, the democracy, the crowd, into the political arena, dictating the policy of States to Kings and Parliaments. Great. Indeed, is the world's debt to o'connell for the orderly progress of liberty. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.