POLISH HISTORY. 77 



over with boards. The Poles call it the Szopa or the 

 Colo. On the day fixed for opening the diet, the senators 

 and the nuncios are present at the celebration of a mass 

 of the Holy Ghost in the church of St John in Warsaw, 

 after which they repair to the Colo, and when they have 

 elected a marshal of the nuncios they form a confederation 

 or a treaty, by which the members of the diet take an 

 oath not to separate till they have elected a king, and not 

 to acknowledge any candidate, if he has not been elected 

 by their unanimous approval, nor render to him any act 

 of obedience, till he has sworn to observe the Pacta Con- 

 venta, and the other laws of the kingdom . 



' When this union has been formed the members en- 

 quire into the exorbitances that have been committed in 

 the course of the last reign. Though the authority of the 

 prince be limited to very narrow restrictions, and though 

 the jealousy which the nation entertains of all attempts 

 against its independency prompts it to a scrupulous exami- 

 nation of their prince's conduct, yet there are always 

 some points to be complained of, and reformed at the 

 close of every reign, and the interregnum proves a favour- 

 able opportunity for the correction of those abuses. The 

 laws are re-established in their original force, and new ones 

 are likewise added; all customs, that are inconsistent 

 with the immunities of the nobility, are rectified. They 

 likewise regulate the administration of the State, and pre- 

 scribe to their future king the observance of those rules 

 and duties from which he is never permitted to deviate. 

 ' All ambassadors are introduced by the senators, and 

 they address the assembly in Latin. The president 

 answers them in the name of the senate, and the marshal 

 of the nuncios on the part of the nobility. 



' It is incumbent on the ministers of the candidates to 

 let their gold glitter as much as possible ; they ought to 

 give splendid entertainments, which, besides their pomp, 

 must be carried into debauch ; and nothing is more agree- 

 able to the Poles, who are naturally magnificent, than are 

 feasts of this kind. The nobility are captivated in a 



