The Defects of the Confederation

What indication is there of national disorder, poverty and insignificance that could befall a community so peculiarly blessed with natural advantages as we are which does not form a part of the dark catalog of our public misfortunes? This is the melancholy situation to which we have been brought by those very maxims and councils which would now deter us from adopting the proposed constitution. Let us at last break the fatal charm which has too long seduced us from the paths of felicity and prosperity.