Gen. William F. Draper Clare Hill Draper |
Hopedale History September 1, 2017 No. 331 A Letter to Clare Hopedale in August Hopedale in September
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Land) Deaths <><><><><><><><><><> Twenty-five years ago - September 1992 - Dr. Mae Jemison becomes the first African-American woman to travel into space, aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Operation Julin is the last nuclear test conducted by the United States at the Nevada Test Site. Fifty years ago - September 1967 - The United States Marines launch a search and destroy mission in Quảng Nam and Quảng Tín provinces. The ensuing 4-day battle in Que Son Valley kills 114 Americans and 376 North Vietnamese. Jim Morrison and The Doors defy CBS censors on The Ed Sullivan Show, when Morrison sings the word "higher" from their #1 hit Light My Fire, despite having been asked not to Love Is a Many Splendored Thing debuts on U.S. daytime television and is the first soap opera to deal with an interracial relationship. CBS censors find it too controversial and ask for it to be stopped, causing show creator Irna Phillips to quit. September 27 – The RMS Queen Mary arrives in Southampton at the end of her last transatlantic crossing. News items above are from Wikipedia. Hopedale news from 25 and 50 years ago (Milford Daily News) and 100 years ago ( Milford Gazette) can be seen below this text box. <><><><><><><><><><> A Letter to Clare Embassy of the United States Rome April 28, 1899 My Dear Son Clare:- In one of your recent letters you said something which conveyed the impression to me that you felt I had not given you sufficient instruction in certain directions, particularly as to my general views of life. The subject is too vast to be covered by a letter, but this being Arthur's birthday, and I having a little spare time, I will state briefly a few general considerations on the subject as I view it. We do not know (religious belief being only belief), why we are here, where we came from, - or what will become of us after the few years that we spend here are over. We may, however, by observation and reason decide what is the best course for us to pursue while here. As to this, my own thought may be summarized in two statements; first a man should make his life useful to the community; second, in all directions that do not interfere with the public good he should make it valuable and satisfactory to himself. Continuing this line of reasoning, it is evident that the man who gives himself up to various indulgences, is an absolute detriment to the community, and to himself also, in the long run. The man who simply does nothing in the world, but who lives upon what is provided for him by others, does not in this view perform his duty, and so far as the community is concerned he may as well not have existed. The man who does something, but not his best, is a failure in so far as he falls short of his highest development. I think these are statements of acknowledged fact, whether judged from the moral or the materialistic standpoint. Now making a personal supplication, which is what you seemed to call for, I have given all my children who are of age a good education, as that word is commonly used, and a sufficient amount of this world's goods to enable each of them to live comfortably on his or her income. If any of you shall decide to merely live on this income, without further effort, it is evident that the above rules would be violated, and that he would not be doing his duty, either to himself or the community. A very large share of the well-to-do men in Europe, and I am sorry to say, and increasing share of those in America, are in this manner leading absolutely useless lives, even if by indulging vicious propensities they are not doing worse than this. Second; if any of you in selecting and following an occupation should not do your best work, seeking the highest position that you are capable of filling, the above statement would be true, to a lesser extent. I believe it the duty of a man, not only to be useful to the community, but to develop the highest usefulness of which he is capable. From these statements other corollaries could be derived, numerous enough to fill a library. It would be easy for me to enlarge, but perhaps the mere statement will be easier to comprehend and will have more weight if I leave the subject here. We are all well and looking forward to seeing you on our homecoming about the 1st of July. Affectionately your father, William F. Draper Gen. William F. Draper Clare Hill Draper Ezine Menu HOME |
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