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 strictly forbidden. It was, in reality, this Cambridge code which proved to be the rock on which the supporters of the two games split Still, before this it had been growing more and more apparent that there was little or no possibility of a fusion of the two conflicting interests. It was not until the meeting of the Association, held on November 24, 1863, however, that the irreconcilables came to an actual rupture. A proposal, "That the rules of the Cambridge University embrace the true principles of the game with the greatest simplicity, and, therefore, that a committee be appointed to enter into communication with the committee of the University, to endeavour to induce them to modify some of the rules which appear to the Association to be too lax and liable to give rise to disputes," was declared to be carried in preference to an amendment proposed by Mr. Campbell on behalf of the Blackheath club, merely asserting that the Cambridge rules were "worthy of consideration." The rejection of this amendment was the first step in the ultimate severance of the two parties upholding respectively the dribbling and the running games. It was not, though, until a fortnight later that the formal withdrawal of the Blackheath club destroyed finally the last hope of a fusion of the rival interests.

Meanwhile, at a meeting held on December 1, an objection was lodged by the representative of the Blackheath to the confirmation of the previous minutes, on the ground that the chairman had taken the votes in favour of the amendment above referred to, and not those against it, so that the record of the meeting was not correct. The minutes, though, were confirmed, with the reservation in the shape of a formal protest from the Blackheath division.

The question of "hacking" was the rock on which the two parties struck. A proposition that the committee do