Their bold comrades had a right to reply to the Sultan when he asked how many they were, "Who knows?
We are scattered all over the steppes; wherever there is a hillock, there is a Cossack." It was, in fact, a most remarkable exhibition of Russian strength, forced by dire necessity from the bosom of the people.

In place of the original provinces with their petty towns, in place of the warring and bartering petty princes ruling in their cities, there arose great colonies, kurens (3), and districts, bound together by one common danger and hatred against the heathen robbers.

The story is well known how their incessant warfare and restless existence saved Europe from the merciless hordes which threatened to overwhelm her.

The Polish kings, who now found themselves sovereigns, in place of the provincial princes, over these extensive tracts of territory, fully understood, despite the weakness and remoteness of their own rule, the value of the Cossacks, and the advantages of the warlike, untrammelled life led by them.

They encouraged them and flattered this disposition of mind.