… We are fast verging to anarchy and confusion! How melancholy [sad] is the reflection, that in so short a space, we should have made such large strides towards fulfilling the prediction of our transatlantic foe [enemy]!"leave them to themselves, and their government will soon dissolve." Will not the wise and good strive hard to avert [prevent] this evil?... What stronger evidence can be given of the want of energy in our governments than these disorders [Shays’ Rebellion If there exists not a power to check them, what security has a man for life, liberty, or property? Source: George Washington’s letter to James Madison, November 5, 1786. According to Washington, what is needed to prevent an uprising like Shays’ Rebellion?