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 ou

r homecoming about the 1st of July.

Affectionately your father,

William F. Draper

William F. Draper Clare Draper

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