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COSSACKS from his youth, and was expelled from a Jesuit school on the double charge of indocility and patriotism. After fighting for the Koman republic in 1849, he emigrated to South America, but failing to establish himself, returned to Italy, and lived precariously as a literary man until 1870, when his reputation was established by the unexpected success of his first acted tragedy, Nero. From this time to his death in 1880 Cossa continued to produce a play a year, usually upon some classical subject. Cleopatra, Messalina, Julian, enjoyed great popularity, and his dramas on subjects derived from Italian history, Rienzi and The Borgias, were also successful. Plautus, a comedy, was preferred by the author himself, and is more original. Cossa had neither the divination which would have enabled him to reconstruct the ancient world, nor the imagination which would have enabled him to idealize it. But he was an energetic writer, never tame or languid, and at the same time able to command the attention of an audience without recourse to melodramatic artifice; while his sonorous verse, if scarcely able to support the ordeal of the closet, is sufficiently near to poetry for the purposes of the stage. (r. g.) CoSSackS (Russian, Kazak] plural, Kazaki), the name given to considerable portions of the population of the Russian Empire, endowed with certain special privileges, and bound in return to give military service, all at a certain age, under special conditions. They constitute ten separate Voiskos, settled along the frontiers : Don, Kuban, Terek, Astrakhan, Ural, Orenburg, Siberian, Semiryechensk, Amur, and Usuri. The primary unit of this organization is the stanitsa, or village, which holds its land as a commune, and may allow persons who are not Cossacks (excepting Jews) to settle on this land for payment of a certain rent. The assembly of all householders in villages of less than 30 households, and of 30 elected men in villages having from 30 to 300 households (one from each 10 households in the more populous ones), constitutes the village assembly, similar to the mir, but having wider attributes, which assesses the taxes, divides the land, takes measures for the opening and support of schools, village grain-stores, communal cultivation, and so on, and elects its ataman (elder) and its judges, who settle all disputes up to <£10 (or above that sum with the consent of both sides). Military service is obligatory for all men, for 20 years, beginning with the age of 18. The first 3 years are passed in the preliminary division, the next 12 in active service, and the last 5 years in the reserve. Every Cossack is bound to procure his own uniform, equipment, and horse (if mounted) — the Government supplying only the arms. Those on active service are divided into three equal parts according to age, and the first third only is in real service, while the two others stay at home, but are bound to march out as soon as an order is given. The officers are supplied in the usual way by the military schools, in which all Cossack Voiskos have their own vacancies, or are non-commissioned Cossack officers, with officers’ grades. In return for this service the Cossacks have received from the State considerable grants of land, for each Voisko separately. The total Cossack population in 1893 was 2,648,049 (1,331,470 women), and they owned nearly 146,500,000 acres of land, of which 105,000,000 acres were arable and 9,400,000 under forests. This land was recently divided between the stanitsas, at the rate of 81 acres per each soul, with special grants to officers (personal to some of them, in lieu of pensions), and leaving about one-third of the land as a reserve for the future. The income which the Cossack Voiskos receive from the lands which they rent to different persons, also from various sources (trade
patents, rents of shops, fisheries, permits of gold-digging, &c.), as also from the subsidies they receive from the Government (about 712,500 1. in 1893), is used to cover all the expenses of State and local administration. They have besides a special reserve capital of about 2,600,000 1. The expenditure of the village administration is covered by village taxes. The general administration is kept separately for each Voisko, and differs with the different Voiskos. The central administration, at the Ministry of War, is composed of representatives of each Voisko, who discuss the proposals of all new laws affecting the Cossacks. In time of war the ten Cossack Voiskos are bound to supply 890 mounted sotnias or squadrons (of 125 men each), 108 infantry sotnias or companies (same number), and 236 guns, representing 4267 officers and 177,100 men, with 170,695 horses. In time of peace they keep 314 squadrons, 54 infantry sotnias, and 20 batteries containing 108 guns (2574 officers, 60,532 men, 50,054 horses). Altogether, the Cossacks have 328,705 men ready to take arms in case of need. As a rule, popular education amongst the Cossacks stands at a higher level than in the remainder of Russia. They have more schools and a greater proportion of their children go to school. In addition to agriculture, which (with the exception of the Usuri Cossacks) is sufficient to supply their needs and usually to leave a certain surplus, they carry on extensive cattle and horse breeding, vine culture in Caucasia, fishing on the Don, the Ural, and the Caspian, hunting, bee-culture, Ac. The extraction of coal, gold, and other minerals which are found on their territories is mostly rented to strangers, who also own most factories. The numerical forces and the territories of each Voislco, as also their war-footing, in 1894 (only slightly increased since) were as follows:— Territory— Acres.
Cossack Population.
Amur, 1858
c. 2,750,000
Astrakhan
2,080,000
19,700 6 squadrons, 3 companies infantry (33 off., 1529 men, 1070 horses). 26,627 13 squadrons (48 off., 2167 men, 2322 horses). 966,869 354 sq., 23 bath, 16 detachments (1627 off., 64,069 men, 65,793 horses, 140 guns). 702,432 136 sq., 14 bath, 7 inf. detachm., 1 compy. militia (47,617 men, 37,895 horses, 30 guns). 350,614 110 sq., 7 bath, 3 inf. det. (429 off., 20,639 men, 22,717 horses, 40 guns). 25,369 12 sq. (45 off., 1965 men, 2106 horses). 113,546 54 sq. (189 off., 8901 men, 9477 horses).
Voisko.
Don .
.
.
.
29,695,000
Kuban
18,000,000
Orenburg, 1755
23,000,000
Semiryechensk, 1867 Siberian, xvii. c. (narrow strip from Orenburg to Irtysh and Bukhtarma; also in Kirghiz Steppe) Terek
c. 1,500,000 c. 15,000,000
Transbaikalia, 1822, 1851 Ural ....
c. 8,150,000 c. 17,500,000
Usuri, 1858
Undetermined
Total, .
5,400,000
War-Footing.
162,156 70 sq., 2 inf. det., 2 batt. (342 off., 12,372 men, 13,543 horses, 12 guns). 181,474 18 sq., 30 compy.,3batt. (231 off, 9319 men, 4050 horses, 12 guns). 110,986 38 sq., 2 inf. det. (198 off, .8724 men, 9229 horses). 7,040 5 sq. (12 off, 583 men, 624 horses).
Over 120,000,000 2,666,813 816 sq., 70 inf. coy. and inf. det., 49 . batt. (3157 off, 177,885 men, 236 guns).
