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 （可在圖書館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.

（圖片來自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，一群有識之士聚集在費城一個封閉的會議室裏，簽署了美國憲法。

盡管年屆八十一，飽受痛風和腎結石之苦，富蘭克林參加並強調了必須妥協才能達到共同的目標：“..鑒於有如此眾多不同和相互競爭的利益，任何人都不可能滿足他們的所有願望..”

憲法製定會議之後，伊麗莎白·威林·鮑威爾女士問：“富蘭克林博士，我們的國家會是怎樣的，共和國還是君主製？”

富蘭克林回答：“共和國，如果你（們）能保持它。”

注：鮑威爾女士是富有和有名望的塞繆爾·鮑威爾的妻子，她模仿法國沙龍舉辦了聚會，這些聚會有許多美國founding fathers的參加，如Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, and John Adams.）