May the great God whom I worship Grant to my Country
and for the benefit of Europe in General a great and Glorious Victory, and may no
misconduct in any one tarnish it, and May humanity after Victory be the predominant
feature in the British fleet. For. myself individually I commit my Life to Him who made
me, and may his blessing light upon my endeavours for serving my Country faithfully, to
Him I resign myself and the just cause which is entrusted to me to Defence - Amen Amen
Amen
Nelson's Prayer is acknowledged to be an example of perfect English
prose. I suppose most British people heard of it, even if those who are not particularly
interested in Nelson have not read it.
The prayer reiterates Nelson's belief in God, which was very real to
him, probably due to his upbringing at Bumham Thorpe, where his father, a very saintly
man, was rector. It also shows Nelson's humanity, which was very important to him. He
mentions not for the first time "humanity after Victory". There is hope in the
Prayer as well as a feeling of resignation. But perhaps the most interesting aspect of the
Prayer is how it came to be written on the day of the great Battle of Trafalgar , the 21
st October 1805.
At dawn, 7.00 a.m., Nelson was writing in his diary. He had also paced
the deck and talked to some of the sailors, waiting for it to be light enough to see the
French and Spanish ships and to signal by flags to his Captains. As will be seen, he had
just started writing in his diary about the position of the ships when he broke off after
a comma, and wrote the immortal prayer. A little later he wrote a new Will, leaving Lady
Hamilton as a bequest to the nation, which was witnessed by Blackwood and Hardy.
It had already been decided that action could not begin for some hours
due to the fact that the easterly breeze was very light. In the meantime, Nelson said:
"I'll now amuse the fleet", and asked Pascoe to send his famous signal:
“England expects that every man will do his duty”.
The battle started at about noon; that would be a story in itself. But
at 4.30 p.m. Nelson, who had resigned himself to God, was dead.
