There was no help in a government which consisted of States united only in name.

Congress comprised a handful of respectable gentlemen who had little power and less responsibility, quarreling among themselves for lack of better employment.

Retaliation against England by means of legislation was utterly impossible.

Each State looked after its commerce in its own peculiar fashion and the devil might take the hindmost.

Their rivalries and jealousies were like those of petty kingdoms.