At a later period, the celebrated Stephen Batory, as great a captain as he was a shrewd politician, saw clearly the advantages derivable from a nation (for with that title they were already invested,) who h been kindly treated in consideration of the good services they had rendered to the state, but who, in reality, were nothing more than a barbarian horde, a rabble of notorious adventurers, a troop of ferocious banditti. He flattered himself with the hope of taming their impetuous ardour, by overwhelming them with kindness and marks of favour; of attaching them permanently and indissolubly to Poland, and of being able to make a beneficial use of their enterprising bravery, without having to fear from their turbulence, their excesses, and unbridled license. He nominated Bohdon Rozynski attaman of the Polish Cossacks, and gave him the fortress of Trehtymirow, together with considerable revenues; assigning superior marks of distinction to the dignity with which he had invested him. As part of the insignia of office the new attaman likewise received the huldva, or baton of commander-in-chief, a horse''s tail, bunizuk (bougnetchouque), for his standard; and for armorial bearings or device, a figure representing a Cossack armed for battle, bearing a naked sword above his head, covered with the peculiarly shaped czapka (tchapka) or Cossack-bonnet, surmounted by a sort of triangular tassel, by way of aigrette, in all of which latter insignia the allusion to the Scythian origin of the Cossacks is sufficiently evident.
In order still further to facilitate the subjection of these new troops to the restraints imposed by a system of vigorous discipline, King Batory distributed the Cossack forces into six regiments of one thousand men each, again subdivided, respectively, into hundreds, or sotnia; and in some one of which subdivisions every Cossack soldier was required to have himself inscribed. He likewise created a general of artillery, styled ohozny, a secretary (pisar), aides-de-camp {assawaly, pronounced assavouU), colonels commanding regiments (pulkowniki or poulkoveniqui) centurions commanding a sub-division or sotnia {sotniki), and sudi (soudi), a species of military judges, whose office it was to assist the chief in the regular discharge of his duties, and by their presence to add a more imposing and solemn character to his station and dignity. The hetman, attaman, or chief of the Cossacks, was required to fix his residence at Czehrin (Tcheguerine) or Trekthymirow, and it was in the environs of these two military stations that he was to exercise his militia, to renew the garrisons in the islands of the Dnieper, to prevent the incursions of the Tatars, keep watch over the safety of the frontiers, and direct all the offensive expeditions. Each Cossack received, as a largess or bounty from the King of Poland, as part of his pay, a ducat of gold and a pelisse. Those who were in receipt of this allowance were inscribed on the registers, and were called rejestrowi (registered men). Their chief had at his disposal, not only infantry, cavalry, and artillery forces, but also an excellent, marine. Stephen Batory sanctioned the establishment of a still greater number of Cossacks in Lower Podolia and the Ukraine, as a reserve body, wherewith to replace, in case of need, their brethren engaged in active service; allowing them in the meantime to clear and cultivate the waste lands. All this organizing of the Cossacks of the Dnieper seemed to be somewhat foreign to the settled institutions of the Polish monarchy, and resembled rather one of those military-colonies of ancient Scythians, organized after the model of a Roman legion. i This was, undoubtedly, an institution highly favour-