The Federalist Papers · Federalist No. 19 · paragraph 15

If more direct examples were wanting, Poland, as a government over local sovereigns, might not improperly be taken notice of. Nor could any proof more striking be given of the calamities flowing from such institutions. Equally unfit for self-government and self-defense, it has long been at the mercy of its powerful neighbors; who have lately had the mercy to disburden it of one third of its people and territories.

Publius · Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison · 1787–1788
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