Known sourcecanonical
"A weapon that comes down as still As snowflakes fall upon the sod; But executes a freeman's will, As lightning does the will of God; And from its force nor doors nor locks Can shield you,--'t is the ballot-box."
John Pierpont / A Word from a Petitioner.
A Word from a Petitioner.
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed. (Little, Brown, 1905), public domain