and pro-French sentiment was frowned upon, particularly after the positive reception of a speech by the French general Sebastiani at Zakynthos. On 3 February 1803, the provisional Senate announced the creation of new electoral colleges, the so-called sincliti, replacing the old councils of the nobility. Nevertheless, membership to these was restricted by a series of property, citizenship, religious, and professional qualifications, so that they had a pronounced oligarchic character. These sinliti in turn elected a 40-member legislative body (Corpo Legislativo, with ten members each from Corfu, Cephalonia, and Zakynthos, four from Lefkada, two each from Ithaca and Kythira and one from Paxoi) and a seventeen-member Senate (with four members each from Corfu, Cephalonia, and Zakynthos, two from Lefkada, and one each from the other islands). The new Senate appointed Ioannis Kapodistrias as Secretary of State. Constitution of 1803 On 26 October, the Constitutional Assembly convened, which on 5 December 1803 passed the new constitution of the Republic. Its 212 articles were a mixture of progressive principles and restrictions on political rights that ensured the oligarchic nature of the state. While the Venetian-era hereditary nobility was abolished, a new civic aristocracy ("constitutional nobility") took its place. Based on property or academic qualifications, it was composed of many former nobles as well as burghers. This new aristocracy formed the electorate for the sincliti, which continued to elect the Senate and the legislative body as before. The Constitution of 1803 introduced the principle of separation of powers, and instituted a new body, the "censors" (Censori) who were to safeguard compliance to the Constitution and function as advisors to the Senate. The Senate remained the main executive body, with three branches for foreign affairs, interior and finance affairs, and military affairs. Each island retained its own government for the time being, headed by a "dean" or "rector" (Pritano), while his two deputies were now named "regents" (Reggenti). Among the progressive elements of the new constitution were the institution of juries, personal liberties, the inviolability of a citizen's home, and religious tolerance. The constitution also contained a clause that made knowledge of the Greek language mandatory for any candidate for public office after 1810, while from 1820 on all public documents were to be exclusively in Greek. The new constitution went into force on 27 December, when the Metropolitan of Corfu blessed it and the president of the Constitutional Assembly and deputy president of the