but a surface of a few yards to each performer, has come into fashion,
and it is hard to imagine any exercise more elegant, or one that requires
more nerve. The novice is theoretically aware that if he throws his body
into certain unfamiliar postures, which are explained to him, the laws of
gravitation and of the higher curves will cause him to complete a certain
figure. But how much courage and faith it requires to yield to these
laws and let the frame swing round subject to the immutable rules of
matter! The temptation to stop half-way is almost irresistible, and then
there occurs a complicated fall, which makes the petrified spectator ask
where may be the skater's body--"which are legs, and which are arms?" Of
all sports, skating has the best claim to adopt Danton's motto, _Toujours
de l'audace_--the audacity meant being that of giving one's self up to
the laws of motion, and not the vulgar quality which carries its owner on
to dangerous ice. Something may now be learned of figure-skating on dry
land, and the adventure may be renewed of the mythical children who went
sliding all on a summer day. In this respect, skating has a great
advantage over its rival, the "roaring game" of curling. It would be
poor fun to curl on asphalte, with stones fixed on wheels, though the
amusement is possible, and we recommend the idea, which is not copyright,
to enthusiastic curlers; and curlers are almost always enthusiastic. It
is pleasant to think how the hills must be ringing with their shouts,
round many a lonely tarn, where the men of one parish meet those of the
next in friendly conflict north of the Tweed. The exhilarating yell of
"soop her up," whereby the curler who wields a broom is abjured to sweep
away the snow in front of the advancing stone, will many a time be heard
this winter. There is something peculiarly healthy about this sport--in
the ring with which the heavy stones clash against each other; in the
voices of the burly plaided men, shepherd, and farmer, and laird; in the
rough banquet of beef and greens and the copious toddy which close the
day's exertions.