To Susan Sturgis de Sastre
GRAND HÔTEL & HÔTEL TIVOLLIER TOULOUSE RUE DE METZ
TOULOUSE, LE
29 Avril 1906
Mr. Rockefeller is not a lunatic; he is, I understand, a little timid, and doubtless has detectives to protect him against “cranks” that might loiter about his house. But he is comparatively well, and has a new wig to make him beautiful; and he is coming to spend seven weeks at Compiegne this Summer with the Strongs. Mrs. Rockefeller comes with him; they are going to travel under an assumed name, to protect themselves from begging letters and indiscrete curiosity. Strong tells me that he has written an essay on the duties of rich men, which he is going to read some Sunday afternoon to his father-in-law. It points out that very large fortunes are truly “trusts”; and that instead of being left to individuals of one’s family they should be made into public funds, administered by some trustees of distinction, for the benefit of the community at large.
From The Letters of George Santayana: Book One, [1868]-1909. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2001.
Location of manuscript: Alderman Library, University of Virginia at Charlottesville