30 
NEW TCHEIIKASK. 
the town a superb structure of stone, like the Gastonadvor (or 
place of shops) in St. Petersburg, is to be raised. In the mean¬ 
while, a temporary building of wood supplies its place. The 
houses of tradesmen and humbler order of Cossacks are all con¬ 
structed of timber, on stone foundations from three to four feet 
high. They are clean, to nicety, both within and without, 
equalling the Hollander’s habitation in every species of domestic 
order. Such exactness is the more striking to a traveller coming 
from Russia, where punctilios of that sort are little thought of in 
the smaller towns and villages. 
Amongst other judicious measures, Count Platoff has instituted 
a school for the education of the youth of Tcherkask, in which 
every branch of useful knowledge is taught by well-qualified and 
well-salaried masters. The establishment has not yet increased 
its inmates, equal to the population of the city ; thirty-six boys 
being all the present number of its students. But this warlike 
people, surrounded by hostile tribes, may be excused for not yet 
fully appreciating the advantages of a system wholly directed to 
the mind, and must therefore appear connected with objects of 
peace alone. Simple in their wants, and simple in their views, to 
preserve themselves in possession of their little circle of family 
comfort, they think not of the embellishments of life, nor of the 
refinements of learning; but turn the whole force of their talents 
to the formation and the good management of arms. The pike, 
the weapon of his ancestors and himself, like the eagle of the 
ancient Roman, is regarded by the brave Cossack as a sort of 
tutelary deity ; having the power to preserve, or to gain and to 
maintain the land he inhabits. But as European civilisation 
spreads around him, emulation for literature and the arts, will 
awaken with their evident use ; and the ardent and active nature 
