eaven. The next morning the gates of the
city were thrown open, the streets were garlanded with flowers, and the
King of Poland had a triumphal reception in the streets of the
metropolis. The enthusiasm and gratitude of the people passed all
ordinary bounds. The bells rang their merriest peals; files of maidens
lined his path, and acclamations, bursting from the heart, greeted him
every step of his way. They called him their father and deliverer. They
struggled to kiss his feet and even to touch his garments. With
difficulty he pressed through the grateful crowd to the cathedral, where
he prostrated himself before the altar, and returned thanks to God for
the signal victory. As he returned, after a public dinner, to his camp,
he said, "This is the happiest day of my life."

Two days after this, Leopold returned, trembling and humiliated to his
capital. He was received in silence, and with undisguised contempt. His
mortification was intense, and he could not endure to hear the praises
which were everywhere lavished upon Sobieski. Jealousy rankled in his
heart, and he vented his spite upon all around him. It was necessary
that he should have an interview with the heroic king who had so nobly
come to his rescue. But instead of meeting him with a warm and grateful
heart, he began to study the punctilios of etiquette, that the dreaded
interview might be rendered as cold and formal as possible.

Sobieski was merely an elective monarch. Leopold was a hereditary king
and an emperor. Leopold even expressed some doubt whether it were
consistent with his exalted dignity to grant the Polish king the honor
of an audience. He inquired whether an _elected monarch_ had ever been
admitted to the presence of an _emperor_; and if so, with what forms, in
the present case, the king should be received. The Duke of Lorraine, of
whom he made the inquiry, disgusted with the mean spirit of the emperor,
nobly replied, "With open arms."

But the soulless Leopold had every movement punctiliously arranged
according to the dictates of his ignoble spirit. The Polish and Austrian
armies were drawn up in opposite lines upon the plain before the city.
At a concerted signal the emperor and the king emerged from their
respective ranks, and rode out upon the open plain to meet each other.
Sobieski, a man of splendid bearing, magnificently mounted, and dressed
in the brilliant uniform of a Polish warrior, attracted all eyes and the
admiration of all hearts