But now about Genevieve.
You tell me she is to be left with your sister, and that she will, for
the first time, attend the public school.
You are right in thinking this will make her more American in spirit
than an education gained through home teaching or private schools.
The girl who attends private schools only, is almost invariably
inoculated with the serum of aristocracy.
She believes herself a little higher order of being than the children
who attend public schools, and it requires continual association with
people of broad common sense to counteract this influence. I know you
and the doctor have exerted this influence, but your sister might not
realize the necessity of making a special effort in that direction.
Then, too, since the fathers or grandfathers of our most conspicuous
social leaders were self-made and self-taught, and since our American
society is composed of so many varied types of humanity, it is well for
a young girl to come in contact with all classes while she is yet a
child, that she may understand humanity as she is sure to encounter it
later.
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