Robin Hood also held women in high respect. He says just before his death :—

"I never hurt woman in all my life,

Nor man in woman's company."

Perhaps it is this sympathy for the oppressed, and his high standard of honor, in the midst of his dishonor, that causes the old minstrel to speak of him fondly as a "courteous outlawe.” He closes the account of the noted outlaw's death with these pious words :

"Christ have mercy on his soule,

That died on the rode,

For he was a good outlawe,

And dyde poor men much good."

Perhaps, too, this may account for Robin's loyalty to the church in the midst of his disloyalty to society.

"A gode manner then had Robyn,

In land where that he were,

Every day or he would dyne,
Thre masses wolde he here.

"The one in the worship of the Fader,
And another of the Holy Gost,
The third was of our dere Lady,
That he loved all other most."

There is in these ballads a strange mixture of piety and crime, of virtue and vice, that seems incompatible to us of the twentieth century. Conditions were different in those rough days when all society was divided into two classes, the oppressors and the oppressed. In these songs of Robin's bold daring we have again the fresh simplicity of the early spring flower in the midst of the mire that may surround it.

Mr. Henry A. Beers says of ballads: "They are rough and wild; they dealt with fierce sincerity in the elementary passions of human nature. They did not moralize or philosophize or sentimentalize; were never subtle, intellectual or abstract.

They used plain English without finery or elegance.

They were intent on the story, not on the style, and they just told it and let it go for what it was worth."

The ballad is of interest to us because it brings us in touch with the common people of the far distant past. In its spon

taneous naïvete it has given us a glimpse into the simple life of the Middle Ages when the people lived close to nature, and the feeling within them was strong. In the words of Henry Thomas Buckle, "Ballards are the resource which in peace amuse leisure, and in war stimulate courage."

Thanks

N. K. GRIGGS

For the worlds, whose wondrous story
Makes known Thy awesome might,
For the suns, whose founts of glory
Pour forth Thy golden light,

For the heights, supreme with grandeur,
Where but Thy feet have trod,

For the depths, profound with wisdom,
We thank Thee, O our God.

For the hills, where rills are dancing,
And the birds trill sweetest lays,
For the vales, where brooks are glancing,
And the winds sigh softest praise,
For the woods where shadows slumber,
And dreaming branches nod,

For the fields where all is beauty,

We thank Thee, O our God.

For the heart of consecration,
To pulse with love so strong,
For the voice of adoration,
To waft aloft in song,
For the strength of faith unfailing,
To walk through ills unawed,
For the dream of joy transcending,
We thank Thee, O our God.

For the trust, so pure and lowly,
When grief has wrung the soul,
For the hope, so sure and holy,
That gains the final goal,
For the prayer, devoutly winging,
As, weary, here we plod,
For the bliss, awaiting yonder,

We thank Thee, O our God.

WILLIAM A. MCKEEVER, PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY, KANSAS STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, MANHATTAN, KANSAS

CCORDING to a fairly accurate estimate, there are in the United States to-day 500,000 boys and youths who are habitual cigarette smokers. Not fewer than one fifth, or 100,000, of these are puny little boys under twelve years of age, with dull, lusterless eyes and pale, drawn lips and thin, trembling hands. They began the habit in pure innocence, but they are now completely its victims. Few of them can be educated beyond the eighth grade, and practically all of them are destined to remain physical and mental dwarfs. The writer of this paper has long been seeking far and wide for a method of prevention and cure of this terrible disease.

I have many such descriptions as these below :

1. Began habit at 4, taught by boys 6 and 7. Almost physi cal wreck now at 13. Sight poor, voice like a ghost, hearing impaired. Steals. In first grade.

2. Began at 3 years. Heart trouble at 5. Prostrated 3 months, got well, habit gone. Grew to be a strong man.

3. Bright boy up to fourth grade. Began in that grade, conditioned in fifth, failed. Lost interest and quit. Now in reform school.

4. Reasonably bright son of indulgent parents. Began smoking at 10. Mind shattered at 14. Tried several positions, failed. A worthless loafer now.

5. Bright, intelligent boy, began while page in state senate. Became untruthful, unreliable, slovenly. Now a physician addicted to use of other narcotics.

There are in the Kansas State Agricultural College at this time about one hundred young men who are thoroughly addicted to the use of cigarettes or a strong pipe, while a great many others indulge occasionally in the use of tobacco in some form. These young men are somewhat below the average of their age in size and weight, have something of the "lean and hungry

look," and are more or less predisposed to sore eyes, weak heart, sore throat, stomach trouble, "short wind," and the like; and what is most serious of all, perhaps, they rank very low as students. On the other hand, the majority of these young men are affable, well dressed, gentlemanly in their manners (except when smoking), and, withal, very pleasant and agreeable persons to meet, with the exception aforesaid.

Now it is furthest from the purpose of this paper to offer a general criticism of smoking. Nor is it intended to cast any adverse reflections upon this college. The percentage of cigarette smokers here is probably as low as in any other institution of the kind. The truth is that tens of thousands of the best men of the land are smoking habitually what they call "good cigars." They represent practically all the important occupations and professions, learned and otherwise, and they pay about $150,000,000 yearly for their cigars. I believe that this practice of smoking is growing more common every year, and that it will continue among us without abatement for many years to come. Men without doubt get a great deal of pleasure out of their smoking, and the injury to health is in most cases rather slight, provided the habit is not begun before physical maturity is reached. Admittedly, the smoker gets mental and physical exhilaration out of his cigar or pipe. It gives him a much more agreeable frame of mind, and causes his cares to flee away. But the practice is none too clean, is somewhat selfish, and is very expensive. Among fifty representative smokers interviewed, every one admitted that the practice resulted in a net loss, and that it ought never to be taken up, at least before maturity.

But the cigarette boy is a class unto himself, and the problem relating to him is unique. He begins the practice “just to have fun," and he is usually in the clutches of the habit before he realizes it seriously. Moreover, the ill effects of cigarettes upon young boys and youths are so marked that their physical, intellectual and moral natures are often permanently impaired. Comparatively few of these youths ever get beyond the freshman year in college. They are soon forced out into other lines of work, and are usually compelled to take subordinate positions.

Of the many cases that I have examined the average age of beginning the habit has been about fifteen years. There are, however, in the public schools of Kansas, according to an estimate made from records on file in my office, about five thousand young boys who are habitual smokers. These boys begin the habit at an early age, and are nearly always weak in body and mind as a result of the practice. Out of two thousand three hundred and thirty-six of these public school boys only six were reported "bright students." A very few others, perhaps ten, were average," and all the remainder either "poor" or "worthless" as students. Of one hundred such boys who were measured, it was found that they were below the average of their age in height, weight and chest expansion, and that there were many other evidences of physical defect.