The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1855-04-11
TIE cossAcKs.


have contributed so much by their arm
to tho aggrandizment of the Russian
Empire, Historians and geographer
generally treat of them under two dis
tinct heads-the Cossacks of the Dor
and the Cossacks of the Dnieper. Al
the various tribes of Cossacks of which
we read, are probably ofshoots from
the one or the other of these two princi
pal stocks.
We will speak first of the Cossacks o.
the Dnieper. So long ago as the Fif
teenth Century, they had their home OF
the banks of this river, which flowed
through their country from north to
south. On their north lived the Poles
and the Russians On their south, the
Empire of the Turks extended along the
entire northern coast cf the Black Sea.
Their country was very appropriately
| called the Ukraine-that is, the From
tier Country. It's natural situation
made it the bulwark of Christendom
against Mohammedanism in this part of
the world, and its inhabitants always
had to bear tie brunt of the battle, in
the long and bloody wars between the
Turks and their northern neighbors. =
Even in times of peace, they were never
free from the dangers of sudden invasion.
They were obliged to keep themselves
continually on the lookout for the enc
my. This, from the beginning, they
became a nation of soldiers. In the
times when the Poles were prosperous
and powerful, the Cossacks of the Dnie-
per acknowledged their supremacy, and
fought under their banners. Sigismund
[, who came to the throne in 1907, was
the first Polish king who availed himself
of the Cossacks for the defence of his do
minions against the Tartars though we
are told that Casimir, tho same who uni
ted Poland and Lithuania, recognized
them as his vassals, and gave them equal
privileges with the Polish nobility. In
the reign of Stephen Batory, who as
cendad the throne in 1875, the Cossacks
of the Dnicper began to play very i'm
portant part in the history of Poland
This king spared no pains for their inn
provement and amelioration. He train
ed them to habits of military discipline
he confined to them the possession of
their territory, and the enjoyment of
their own hereditary institutions. The
government of the Cossacks was de-
mocracy. The principle of equality was
recognized, and no Cossacks was disquel-
fled by distinctions of rank from attain
ing the highest officers. Their chef was
called the Hetnsan or Attanaan. He
was chosen annually, and during his term
of Office his authority was unlimited
The Cossacks were not at all exclusive or
clannish in their customs Nobody was
excluded from their community; hence
their numbers were swollen with fugi-
tives from justice and victims of oppres-
sion from the countries around them
Thus they become q mixed race, though
the Sclavic element was always predom-
inant. For this reason, some have said
that the Cossacks were not, properly
speaking, notion, but only military
for the purpose of defence
or pIunder, like the Rangers of Texas;
or a peculiar class Of people, like the
squatters of our Western country Ma-
ny of tho 4Gossacks were sailors, rather
than horsemen, and the so-called Rafor-
og Cossacks, who lived on the lower
Dnieper, were notorious for their pira-
tical excursions on the Black Sea.
So long as the Poles kept their prom
iscs, and respected the liberties of the
Cossacks, so long the Cossacks remain
ed faithful subjects of the Poles. But
it stands recorded upon the pages of his
tory, that the loyalty of the Cossaeks
was most shamefully abused by the
Poles, who were afterwards summoned
to witness the consequences of their in
justice, in the ACKNOWLEDGMENT of their
country. The Jesuits crept into Po-
land. Here, as everywhere else, they
laid their plots, and woye their intrigues.
They insinuated themselves into the ia
vor of the king; they gained access to
the councils of the nation, and from that
time the whole atmosphere of Poland
became tainted with bigotry The Cos
sacks had never acknowledged the su-
premacy of the Roman Pontif They
belonged to the Greek Church, which |
was Also tho National Church of the
They are damnable here
tics," cried the >Jesuits. "They must
forthwith be conyerted," answered the
Poles; and so the fires of pers ecation
were lighted against this innocent peo-
pie.
The nobility of Poland, too, have
Just as much to answer FIR, in their
treatment of the Cossacks, as the clergy.
rhe naughty aristocrats could not bear
o see the Cossacks enjoying equal priv
leges with themselves They wished
% make serfs of them. The will of the
ting was of no effect. The monarchy
lad become elective, and the king was
10 better than football, to be kicked
bout hx xths GoRtsndiRg .faetians - =