Whilst the Diet was drawing up the _pacta conventa_, Sobieski discovered from an examination of his revenues that he could not fulfil his promise of paying the army for six months. Without delay he frankly owned his inability; and his opponents made this a pretext for inserting in the contract new restrictions on the military authority of the king. They also wished to bind him to an eternal alliance with the court of Vienna. It was soon known that the king would not yield to these terms; and several stormy scenes took place in the Diet. At length the obnoxious articles were struck out; and on the 5th June the king received the instrument of his election from the hands of the interrex. There now remained only the ceremony of coronation--which was a necessary prelude to the exercise of the royal functions. ♦Danger from the Turks.♦ But the steady advance of the Turks grew daily more disquieting. Caplan Pacha had rallied the remnants of the defeated force, and the Sultan was already marching with a great army through Bulgaria. John saw that the delay would be dangerous, and had the courage to disappoint the queen[60] and the whole court by deferring the ceremony. He told the Senate that at such a time a helmet became his forehead better than a diadem. “I know well,” said he, “that I have been elected, not to represent the republic, but to fight for her. I will first fulfil my mission.” Touched by his magnanimity, the Diet resolved to place in his hands at once all the powers of a king.