The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their Constitutions of Government. But the Constitution which at any time exists, ’till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole People, is sacredly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the right of the People to establish Government presupposes the duty of every Individual to obey the established Government.
George Washington (1732–1799) American military leader, Founding Father, US President (1789–1797)
Essay (1796-09-17), “Farewell Address,” Claypoole’s American Daily Advertiser, Philadelphia (1796-09-19)
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Love your website! That not withstanding, I believe this particular quote is missing the word “to” in its first sentence between “people” and “make”. It doesn’t quite make sense without that.
Here’s the quote as cited on page 11 of a pdf transcription of Washington’s Farewell Address at the following link:
https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/Washingtons_Farewell_Address.pdf
“The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government. But the Constitution which at any time exists, until changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all.”
The pdf document states (on page ii) that “The version of the address printed here is taken from the original of the final manuscript in the New York Public Library provided courtesy of The Papers of George Washington. The only changes have been to modernize spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.”
Thanks, Mark! There was indeed a missing “to” in there. I have corrected and cleaned up the entry (and actually added in the next sentence). I need to add my Washington quotes to my to-do list to review and make sure they are properly sourced.