Benjamin Franklin's reply：A republic， if you can keep it

摘自Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius' 的The Turning Point of Modern History，第9章：https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/turning-points-in-modern-history （可在图书馆Libby借到）

On September 17, 1787, a group of men gathered in a closed meeting room in Philadelphia to sign the U.S. Constitution.

（图片来自ConstituionCenter.org)

The day began with a prepared speech from Franklin (PA) who, eighty-one years old and painfully afflicted with gout and kidney stone, was unable to read it himself and delegated that task to Wilson (PA).

I am hereby omitting all the important debates that readers likely are very familiar with, except to mention that compromises needed to be made, as Franklin said "..With so many different and contending interests it is impossible that any one can obtain every object of their wishes."

After the Convention, 

Elizabeth Willing Powel, the wife of the wealthy and prominent Philadelphian Samuel Powel, Elizabeth hosted parties modeled after French salons that were attended by many of America's founding fathers, asked: "Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?"

Franklin: “A republic, if you can keep it.”

Are we?

1787年9月17日，一群有识之士聚集在费城一个封闭的会议室里，签署了美国宪法。

尽管年届八十一，饱受痛风和肾结石之苦，富兰克林参加并强调了必须妥协才能达到共同的目标：“..鉴于有如此众多不同和相互竞争的利益，任何人都不可能满足他们的所有愿望..”

宪法制定会议之后，伊丽莎白·威林·鲍威尔女士问：“富兰克林博士，我们的国家会是怎样的，共和国还是君主制？”

富兰克林回答：“共和国，如果你（们）能保持它。”

注：鲍威尔女士是富有和有名望的塞缪尔·鲍威尔的妻子，她模仿法国沙龙举办了聚会，这些聚会有许多美国founding fathers的参加，如Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, and John Adams.）