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1.VictorianEngland-theBirthofModernSport
successbasedontheVictorianideaofself-reliance”9,putintothemouth
ofthepoliticianMrGregsbury(inhisnovelNicholasNickleby)thefol-
lowingwords:
WhetherIlookhomeorabroad:whetherIbeholdthepeacefulindustrious
communitiesofourislandhome-herriverscoveredwithsteamboats,her
roadswithlocomotives,herstreetswithcabs,herskieswithballoonsof
apowerandmagnitudehithertounknowninthehistoryofaeronauticsin
thisoranyothernation-Isay,whetherIlookmerelyathome,or,stretch-
ingmyeyesfarther,contemplatetheboundlessprospectofconquestand
possession-achievedbyBritishperseveranceandBritishvalour-which
isoutspreadbeforeme,Iclaspmyhands,andturningmyeyestothebroad
expanseabovemyhead,exclaim,CTankHeaven,IamaBriton’10.
Importantly,itwasalsoatimeofunprecedentedpopulationincrease
intheUnitedKingdom.Tesocialconditionsgraduallyimprovedand,
consequently,therewasanextraordinarygrowthinBritishpopulation-
fromtenandahalfmillionin1801tothirty-sevenmillionin1901.Ac-
cordingtoliteraryhistorianG.D.Klingopulos,thefactthatuVictorian
familiesatallsociallevelswereofcolonialsize”madeitpossible-as
interestintheBritishEmpiregrewinthecourseofthecentury-for
theUnitedKingdomtosupplyincreasingnumbersofcolonizersforthe
newlands:NewZealand,Australia,Canada,SouthAfrica,aswellasfor
America11.TisimperialexpansionservedthegamespracticedinBrit-
ainverywell.TedevelopmentofaglobalBritishEmpiremadethesup-
plyoffityoungmen,motivatedbyteam-spiritandasenseofthegreater
good,whichwasanenormouslyvaluableasset.TeEmpireneededfit,
toughservants(providedbythepublicschools),whetherinamilitary,
anadministrative,oreveninamissionarycapacity12.Tequestionof
Victoriansportwillbesoonanalyzed.
Teabove-citedKlingopulosstatesthatutheVictoriansdoseem
muchmoreourcontemporariesinmanyways.Tekindsofproblems
9
A.Diniejko,Introduction,p.151.
10
G.D.Klingopulos,NotesontheVictorianScene[in:]B.Ford(ed.),FromDickenstoHar-
dy,Vol.6ofTeNewPelicanGuidetoEnglishLiterature,PenguinBooks,London1996,
11
p.24.
Ibidem.
12
T.Morris,VainGamesofNoValue?ASocialHistoryofAssociationFootballinBritain
DuringItsFirstLongCentury,AuthorHouseUK,Bloomington,Indiana,2016(Kindle
Edition).