1 When this union has been formed the members enquire 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 examination 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 favourable 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 prescribe 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 agreeable to the Poles, who are naturally magnificent, than are feasts of this kind. The nobility are captivated in a
peculiar manner with the attractions of Hungarian wine, and infallibly declare in favour of the candidate who causes it to flow in the greatest profusion.
' The confederates usually take an oath not to attach themselves to any particular faction, and the ministers are prohibited from continuing at Warsaw, or forming any cabals, but these injunctions are always ill observed. The ambassadors enter upon intrigues even in public, the nobility receive their presents, sell their suffrages with impunity, and render the throne venal, after their own infraction of the first article of the confederation. These mercenary gentlemen usually conduct themselves with very little fidelity to the candidate in whose interest they pretend to be engaged, and if they have nothing more to receive, they immediately forget the presents they have already taken, and, without the least hesitation, espouse the cause of a more wealthy competitor.
' This pretended liberty, therefore, from which the Poles would be thought to derive so much glory, is no more than a slave to avidity. They sacrifice their privileges to repasts, or the purses of the candidates. They have been seen to crouch under the inglorious yoke of foreigners without making any effort to support the king they had elected, and they have abandoned their country as a prey to the Germans, whom they constantly hated, and likewise to the Russians, who were always a contemptible and conquered enemy in the reigns of Stephen Battori and John Sobieski.
' When any candidate has gained the suffrages of all the palatinates he is declared to be the elected king by the Archbishop of Gnesna, and is accordingly proclaimed as such by the marshals of the Crown and Grand Duchy, in conjunction with the nuncios. An oath is then exacted from the new monarch in favour of the Pacta Conventa, and when he has sworn to conform to the regulations of the diet with reference to the exorbitances, and to observe all the other laws of the kingdom, they proceed to the ceremonials of his coronation.
c Popery is the established religion, and the prince himself is obliged to profess it. The zea] of the Poles has always prevailed with relation to this article, and all the efforts made by the advocates for the Augsburg Confession for the introduction of a Protestant prince on the throne of Poland have hitherto proved ineffectual. There are, however, great numbers of Christians of the Greek Church, as well as Lutherans, Anabaptists, and Socinians, in this kingdom, and there are even Pagans to be found in the recesses of Lithuana. The people in general are more superstitious than devout, and they receive whatever is transmitted to them from Rome with a blind submission, and without bestowing the least examination on the particulars.
' The monks improve this stupid credulity to their own advantage; they frequently interfere in affairs of State, and enrich themselves by those means. The Jesuits of Leopold in Russia have a cope entirely covered with gold and precious stones in their treasury, but it is likewise so exceeding weighty that the priest is incapable of using it at mass. This ornament alone is valued at 50,000 crowns.