Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations. 1989.
| NUMBER: | 412 |
| AUTHOR: | James Wilson (1742–98) |
| QUOTATION: | A government without the power of defence! it is a solecism. |
| ATTRIBUTION: | Wilson, the leader of the Federalist forces at the convention, was the only member of the Pennsylvania Convention who had been part of the Federal Convention writing the Constitution. |
| SUBJECTS: | Defense |