♦Exultation in Poland.♦ Three weeks elapsed after Michael’s death before the news of the Grand General’s victory arrived at Warsaw (December 4th), and in the interval the Poles had given up the army for lost. It is somewhat surprising that in a nation so excitable the sudden revulsion of feeling did not result at once in the proclamation of Sobieski. Madame de Sevigné,[52] writing just after the news arrived in Paris (December 22nd), says that there no one doubted that he would be elected. The official journals of France speak of him as “worthy of the throne which he had saved.” But the Grand General himself was aware what a stormy opposition his candidature would raise among the Lithuanians. It was thus with unfeigned sorrow that he received the orders of the primate-interrex to bring back his victorious troops. Everything remained to be done towards reaping the benefits of his glorious success. The Turks were still in Kaminiec; Moldavia and Wallachia were yet to be freed; and the Cossacks who had sent in their submission had to be confirmed in their allegiance. ♦Return of the Polish army.♦ He did all he could. Though his men deserted him daily by hundreds for the more profitable field of election, he left a garrison in Kotzim, and detached 8,000 men for the defence of his two allies. Then, with a heavy heart, he retraced his steps to Leopol. He was here met by deputies from the most distant palatinates, who showered upon him their congratulations; but he showed no disposition to proceed to Warsaw. He knew too well the activity of his enemies in the Diet, and he was quite content that it should appear that he had no personal pretensions.[53]