Obraz Rzeczypospolitej w wypowiedziach posłów sejmu 1793 roku jako przejaw słabości władzy ustawodawczej

The aim of the article is to discuss linguistic manifestations of helplessness and pessimism of deputies to the last Sejm (parliament) of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1793). Both categories were revealed in the parliament during presentations of the disastrous condition of the state. In part one of the article the author presents the lexical fabric used to present the image of the country. This is followed by a presentation of conceptual profiles of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, perceived as suffering, rejected, miserable, threatened, impoverished, destroyed, physically and psychologically abused as well as dying. The article ends with an analysis of the functioning of a pessimistic image in specific parliamentary speeches.