“We see dimly in the Present what is small and what is great,
Slow of faith how weak an arm may turn this iron helm of fate,
But the soul is still oracular; amid the market's din,
List the ominous stern whisper from the Delphic cave within,—
"They enslave their children's children who make compromise with sin."”

St. 9
The Present Crisis (1844)

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James Russell Lowell 175
American poet, critic, editor, and diplomat 1819–1891

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