♦Joy of the Poles.♦ Immediately after the victory, the Jesuit confessor of Sobieski erected an altar in the pavilion of the Seraskier, and the whole army, with tears of joy, attended a thanksgiving service. The occasion was indeed affecting, especially to their commander. Ere long Christendom was resounding with the praises of one who had obtained the greatest victory over the infidel since the battle of Ascalon. Sobieski was most anxious to follow up his success. Honour forbade him to desert the Moldavians and Wallachians, who had come over to him at considerable risk; and he wished to cut off from the Turks all chance of return. ♦Their advance upon the Danube.♦ He put his cavalry in motion towards the Danube with the hope of encountering Caplan Pacha. But that general, on hearing of the disaster at Kotzim, retreated in all haste, and took with him the Turkish garrisons on the left bank of the Danube. Such was the panic in Turkey that the Sultan, who had advanced to Silistria, hurried back to his capital. But the victorious advance of the Poles was stopped, as they were entering Wallachia, by the news of the death of their king. ♦Death of Michael.♦ On the night before the battle of Kotzim (November 10th), Michael breathed his last at Leopol. His death was caused by disease of the kidneys, but he had hastened his end by the gluttonous voracity of his appetite, which passed all bounds. He is said to have devoured in a few hours a thousand Chinese apples, presented to him by the municipality of Dantzic. His last hours were embittered by the fruits of his pusillanimous submission to the Turks. A few days before his death a Turkish Aga[51] arrived, bearing the caphtan, or robe of vassalage, which the Sultan sends to his tributaries. The king was too ill to receive him, and he had to depart without executing his commission. ♦His character.♦ The incapacity of Michael deserves our pity, because the crown was thrust upon him against his will. But he was worse than incapable. Envy and fear alternately gained the mastery over his despicable nature. His evil genius pursued him to the end. Such was the general exultation at the victory of Kotzim that there was no pretence of mourning for him; and his body was conveyed to Warsaw, almost unnoticed, beneath the triumphal arches erected in honour of his rival.