“The day after the battle the Comte de Stahrenberg, the governor of Vienna, came to salute its deliverer. The hero thought he might enjoy his triumph without offending the Emperor, and entered by the breaches amid cries of joy. His horse could scarcely pierce the crowd which contended to kiss his feet, to address him as their father, their preserver, and the greatest of princes. Vienna at that moment forgot that she had a jealous master. The gratitude of these unfortunates, and the pleasure of having delivered them, melted Sobieski to tears; and he declared that a throne had nothing equally flattering. Shouts of delight brought him to the cathedral, where he wished to pay his thanks to the God of battles. He perceived on the building a monument of infamy: it was the Crescent, which Soliman the Great had caused to be placed there, as the condition on which he raised a former siege, which it was inconvenient to prosecute; this he caused to be thrown down, and it was trodden under foot by the people. The Te Deum was then chanted, the King himself leading the choir. No magistrate, and few of the leading men of the city, assisted at this ceremony; the people only were free enough from political restraint to join in the praise of God, and in thanking the victor. The preacher chose for his text these words, ‘There was a man sent by God, whose name was John.’ The application had already been made by Pope Pius V. after the battle of Lepanto, in which Don John of Austria defeated the Sultan Selim. There was however a vast difference between the two battles, for Christianity derived little advantage from that of Lepanto, while that of Vienna saved the German empire, and perhaps the Christian religion. Vienna converted into a Mahometan city, it is impossible to say where the progress of the Crescent would have stopped.