Trafalgar 200 Service |
“It is about time the clergy of the Church of England gave up their modish obsession with synods and structures and returned to their real business in life - bee keeping, cricket and siring Nelsons.” Now I couldn’t possibly say that, but it is a letter I cherish from a parson on the eve of his retirement.
Nelson was the parson’s son who became the great hero Admiral who sleeps directly beneath the Dome, in his tomb just below us here. For much of the past two hundred years he has been a model of what a leader ought to be and significantly beside the Nelson statue in the South Aisle we see Britannia urging some lads to emulate the great man.
This anniversary has caught the popular imagination and it is a good opportunity to tell Nelson’s story again to a new generation who are not always well served by how history is taught in our schools. Inspecting my daughter’s GCSE history syllabus, I discovered a focus on Twiggy and the Vietnam War with a lurch into ancient times represented by the Wall Street crash. There has never been a generation better informed about “now” with so little sense of how we came to be here. Every child in this country ought to have the opportunity of meeting Lord Nelson and considering his legacy.
We have been given the materials by a flotilla of historians who have shed fresh light even on such a well worked subject . We have been well served by the enthusiasm of those involved in the Sea Britain programme and in particular by those responsible for the superb exhibition at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.
This service articulates some of the themes of the Nelson legacy especially the emphasis on “humanity after victory”- a phrase from Nelson’s own prayer which will be read by the First Sea Lord. For all the talk of prize money as a motivator in the navy of the early 19th century, the British fleet after Trafalgar certainly did display humanity after victory at the cost of prize money in rescuing so many French and Spanish sailors in the storm which followed the battle.
What made Nelson a leader whose “immortal memory” we toast? In an understandable desire to construct an objective and measurable account of the competencies required of a leader there is a modern tendency to gloss over the more subtle, moral, and relational aspects of leadership. Recent research, however, by the Exeter University Centre for Leadership Studies reveals that actual practitioners of the art of leadership in various fields put a greater emphasis on the visionary and relational dimensions of leadership than the text books.
It is true that Nelson was a consummate professional and a hard working manager at a time when the navy described by Nicholas Rodger had undergone a revolution in the efficiency of its supply chain and the professionalism of its officers. It is also clear however reading Nelson’s own letters that he had a sense of calling and personal destiny that was very marked. He addressed God as witness and guide in the correspondence preserved in the Admiralty files more than any other contemporary flag officer.
Wisely these celebrations have not countenanced any cheap point scoring against our European neighbours of today but it is worth being clear that our country was involved in 1805 in a life or death struggle with a military dictatorship which had been established over much of Europe in the wake of a Terror which had transformed France. The mystique of a revolution which could build heaven on earth once the earth had been purged of its corruptions by terror perished in its political form with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 but as we know it has many times in history taken pseudo-religious forms. The myth of the revolution and the purging effect of Terror has had the power to evoke colossal self sacrifice which easily colonises the vacuum created by cynicism and self indulgence.
There are some times in history when it is understandable that people speak as John Toland the rationalist did in 1711 with the horrific experience of civil war so present to his mind, “we prefer the quiet good natured hypocrite to the implacable turbulent zealot of any kind”. I think that there is a good deal of sense in that position but in times of danger unless there are people who have a lively sense of what is worth living and dying for then our freedom to live at peace as a society is at risk. The cost involved in this lively sense of what is at stake and the need to make choices is huge and the accounts of the horrific suffering involved in the battle of Trafalgar should preserve us from any temptation to glorify war. Warriors have to face up to the reality of battle which is why they are commonly less belligerent than armchair generals.
But at such times of decision leaders need to make contact with foundational convictions and with a sense of calling which comes from going deep within oneself. This is the source of healthy self confidence and the ability to master fear and to encourage people in the most extreme circumstances. Any education system which hopes to produce effective leaders and followers must take the formation of these foundational convictions very seriously.
Presumably most leaders in history have had a sense of personal destiny for good or ill. I expect that this was true for Attila the Hun so it matters hugely that the sense of calling is formed as it was for Nelson within a tradition like that of the Christian religion which does not glorify war, that insists on the value of personal sacrifice and constantly sounds the note of humanity after victory.
We live at a strange time when the periodic table and anything that can be quantified and reduced to a mathematical truth is regarded as an accurate description of reality but the Beatitudes and the teachings of the world’s wisdom traditions are seen as little more than the debatable opinions of dead sages.
Nelson’s sense of personal and individual call was developed within a tradition which also understands growth in the spiritual life as growth in love of neighbour. Nelson spared no pains to stand by and serve his shipmates. He exhibited an infectious trust in people which called out the best in them and engaged them not only to Nelson’s person but enrolled them in the cause in which he believed. This was not only true for the “band of brothers” who captained the ships of his fleet. People of all ranks in the little world which a ship constitutes became responsible leaders in their turn.
Everyone knows the message which Nelson sent to the fleet as battle loomed, “England expects every man to do his duty,” but that was not the message which he originally intended to send. He asked for the flags to transmit “England confides that every man will do his duty”. England has a common faith that people are to be trusted in a way that helps them to be trust-worthy. Unfortunately there was not a flag for “confides” - so Nelson agreed to substitute the more school masterly “expects”.
A sense of calling, a connection with foundational convictions derived from his belief in God who nerves his worshippers for struggle but also enjoins justice and humanity, a profound sense of the relational element in all great human enterprises - these are Nelson’s contributions to a time when we are once more facing people with fire in their minds, when we need more than efficient regulation and inspection, when we must not neglect the vital work of building up trust and a sense of common purpose among all the citizens of this country. As it says in the lesson we heard, “As God has called you, live up to your calling. Spare no effort to make fast with bonds of peace the unity which the Spirit gives for there is one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” Amen.
