2 THE KEDGE ANCHOR Issue 50 — Autumn 2018 Interpreting history and our naval heroes. In my Dispatch, August 2018, headed ‘Toppling Heroes’, I considered the arguments around the removal of statues erected to honour people from history and also examined the ill-informed accusations against Lord Nelson concerning his attitude to the Atlantic slave trade. While I disagree entirely with the recent claims, which position Nelson as a proactive supporter of slavery I do believe we must be fair. Nelson did support the Atlantic slave trade. It is an uncomfortable fact that goes against every other aspect of his humanity and religious faith. I realised that we had to explore the various issues involved because this accusation is about much more than the loaded phrase ‘white supremacist’ attitudes. The 1805 Club exists to preserve monuments and memorials, including those to Nelson. By honouring Nelson and his kind were we therefore also by implication supporting white supremacy? There is not a single shred of evidence that Nelson considered white people superior to back people and in his personal dealings on land and at sea the evidence shows he treated all equally. In fact, he fought hard for the rights of individual black men who gave him good service. Maybe he could be considered naïve but it is more likely that he was being pragmatic. Nelson was certainly no white supremacist! Moreover, it is mendacious to use an inaccurate assertion to condemn him for perpetuating “tyranny, serial rape and exploitation”. However, these are important issues that we should continue to debate widely, but honestly and not through the fog of ultra-political correctness. ‘Fake history’ driven by hysteria or protest interest groups who judge history by the prevailing cultural and moral values of the time should be challenged vigorously. Everyone needs to be sincere about our shared past so that historical characters can be interpreted in perspective and in context. We must not judge historical figures based on modern sensitivities. On that basis every historical character is culpable. No one can emerge unscathed. Adjusting history to our modern perception is unfair to the times and circumstances that preceded us. It is bad history. In August 2017 I speculated whether we have heard the last of this. I thought not and my qualms have been born out as we have seen the same style of condemnation applied to Captain James Cook RN and most recently to Sir Winston Churchill. In the latter’s case, as witnessed by astronaut Scott Kelly, it is no longer permissible to reference inspirational quotes by Churchill, such as, "In War: Resolution, In Defeat: Defiance, In Victory: Magnanimity, In Peace: Goodwill", because of the bad things Churchill is adjudged by the Twitterati to have done. They cite the Bengal Famine. For them, the good things, like standing up to the tyranny of Nazi fascism count for nothing. The single-issue approach will always ignore the incredible complexity of any situation, for instance in the famine’s case, that Churchill was immersed in a global, total war where there were conflicting priorities and demands. Why does this matter? Simply, because historically inaccurate abuse of historical characters, including Horatio Nelson, is indicative of something far more worrying in our society – a disintegration of mature, open and sensible discourse. We may be small in size, but The 1805 Club has a voice and it is one that in the name of the Georgian naval heroes whose memory it seeks to preserve, must always be balanced, honest and free of any infection that may corrode the sinews of free discourse. I shall now add to that discourse! In May we enjoyed a splendid Cecil Isaacson Memorial Lecture on James Cook, given by Vanessa Collingridge. It highlighted how in the second half of the 18th Century the Royal Navy, an institution characterized by meritocracy, offered talented people two routes that could advance their careers: warfighting, exemplified by Nelson, and exploration, best represented by Cook. It is fascinating that the Royal Navy produced these exceptional sailors at more or less the same time. I am a great fan of Cook, as well as of Nelson, and there is in my mind one unexplained feature of his outstanding career that may never be resolved, but which will continue to haunt his good reputation: This is his personality change towards the end of his life. The difference between the enlightened and humanitarian Cook of the Endeavour voyage James Cook by Nathaniel Dance-Holland National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. [Public domain] Point Wild Elephant Island Antarctic
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