republic

You making haste on decay: not blameworthy; life is good, be it
stubbornly
long or suddenly
A mortal splendor: meteors are not needed less than mountains:
shine, perishing republic.

At the close of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on September 18, 1787, a Mrs. Powell anxiously awaited the results, and as Benjamin Franklin emerged from the long task now finished, she asked him directly: "Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?"
Franklin replied, "A republic, if you can keep it."