From The Birmingham Age-Herald, June 2, 1914. By Oliver Wendell Holmes.
“God give us men! A time like this demands
Strong minds, great hearts, true faith and ready hands;
Men whom the lust of lucre does not kill;
Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy;
Men who possess opinions and a will ;
Men who have honor; men who will not lie;
Men who can stand before a demagogue
And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking;
Tall men, uncrowned, who live above the fog,
In public duty, and in private thinking;
For while the rabble with their thumb-worn creeds,
Their large professions, and their little deeds,
Mingle in selfish strife, Lo! Freedom weeps;
Wrong rules the land, and waiting justice sleeps.”