THE COSSACKS. 



247 



successor asserts that there is no nation in the 

 world more neat in regard to dress, and none — 

 " I will not except even my own " — more cleanly 

 in their apparel. A Cossack in a dirty suit of 

 clothes is never seen. In conversation the Cos- 

 sack is, emphatically, a " gentleman ; " he is well- 

 informed, free from prejudice, open, sincere, and 

 upright. " Place him by the side of a Russian," 

 exclaims the traveler, "and what a contrast!" 

 Yet it is on the authority of these very Russians 

 that tales of Cossack barbarism have been circu- 

 lated throughout Western Europe. They not only 

 took an intelligent interest in all the processes of 

 their democratic constitution, but in many circles 

 of their capital were to be found all the pleasures 

 and elegancies of a highly-refined society. He 

 was invited to dinners which were magnificent 

 and in good taste. In the drawing-room — the 

 phrase Cossack drawing-room must seem a con- 

 tradiction in terms to many — were to be seen 

 elegant and accomplished women assembled round 

 a piano-forte. In this remote corner of Europe 

 were to be met with a wealthy and polished peo- 

 ple, enjoying not only the refinements but even 

 the luxuries of the most civilized nations. " The 

 conversation had that enlightened and agreeable 

 turn which characterizes well-educated military 

 men." 



The pleasant disposition and social virtues of 

 these reputed barbarians have been noted by mQre 

 recent visitors. Mr. Schuyler, in his work on 

 Turkistan, strongly corroborates the favorable 

 account of them given by his predecessors, and 

 repudiates the opinion of their barbarism held so 

 widely in the West. Mr. Wallace, our latest au- 

 thority, found them " agreeable and interesting 

 fellow-travelers." Information collected by Ali- 

 son established the fact that their industry was 

 very considerable, their villages clean and thriv- 

 ing, and the houses comfortable. The manner 

 in which the younger Cossacks acquitted them- 

 selves at the examinations of their university — 

 for it seems that there was even a Cossack uni- 

 versity — Klaproth reported to be highly credit- 

 able. Mr. Laurence Oliphant found them richly 

 endowed with that enterprising spirit in which 

 Russians in general are so deplorably deficient. 

 The Don Cossacks, in spite of the interruptions 

 caused by frequent calls upon them to go upon 



military duty, were among the most energetic and 

 enterprising of the subjects of the Czar. The 

 wealth of some of the richer Cossacks is very con- 

 siderable. Much of it naturally consisted in horses, 

 and not many years since a stud of one thousand 

 stallions was not an uncommon possession. There 

 are stories also of vast treasures of gold and sil- 

 ver ducats hoarded by wealthy widows. 



All travelers concur in speaking highly of the 

 stalwart appearance of the men and of the good 

 looks of the women. To Han way the latter seemed 

 " gay and comely." Clarke found the women of 

 Kasanskaia very beautiful. The German traveler, 

 Moritz Wagner, though admitting that " among 

 the girls there were some perfectly lovely forms," 

 was surprised, considering how good looking the 

 men are, to find comparatively few handsome 

 women. Clarke was struck by the " dignified and 

 majestic look of the Cossacks, and the ease and 

 elegance of their gait." And Klaproth considered 

 their features more handsome and expressive than 

 those of the other Russians. Our latest author 

 says that he had nowhere met — unless it were in 

 Montenegro — " such magnificent specimens of the 

 genus homo as among the descendants of the Za- 

 poravian Cossacks." 



These are the people of whom it is generally 

 believed that they are mere semi-savage, maraud- 

 ing horsemen, good at pillaging and foraging, but 

 of small worth as components of a regularly-or- 

 ganized and well-disciplined army. To many they 

 are but few degrees superior to those terrible 

 Turkish irregulars, the Bashi-Bazouks. When, 

 during the Crimean War, complaints were made 

 of the treatment of our wounded on the field by 

 the enemy, a Russian officer is reported to have 

 said that the rich adornments of some of our 

 cavalry uniforms would prove too strong a tempta- 

 tion for most Cossacks to resist, though the plun. 

 der of their fallen foes would have to be preceded 

 by massacre. This was actually used as an argu- 

 ment in favor of a plainer style of military dress, 

 How true this is likely to be of the Cossacks of 

 reality, and what right the Russians, who have 

 deprived them of much of their freedom, and 

 scarcely conceal their jealousy of their polish and 

 civilization, have to give them such a character- 

 the foregoing pages have, perhaps, in some meas- 

 ure tended to show. — Geographical Magazine. 



