Page:Lacrosse- The National Game of Canada (New Edition).djvu/74

Rh as cricket is freely acknowledged; but that it suffers thereby is not believed. The genuine worth of any physical recreation is in keeping the physical above the mental, for once the mind is paramount to the body, the object of bodily exercise is frustrated.

The science in Lacrosse will be more prominent when rough play is ousted, and men learn to play up to the strict letter of the law. If this science is to be developed, rough brute force play must end; not the hard running, nor the occasional honest shoulder encounters, but the slashing and swiping and wounding by crosses.

But supposing it was granted that there is no science in the game—can that make it a whit less popular, or less healthy? How much science is there in boating, independant of strong arms, and are all regattas to be despised? How much is there in snow-shoeing and toboganing—those glorious winter sports of Canada,—and who will dare impugn the moon-light tramps over Mount Royal, or cast the suspicion of a sneer at swift rides down Montmorenci cone?

LACROSSE—THE NATIONAL GAME OF CANADA.

I believe that I was the first to propose the