ous, but hardly convincing, one
would think; yet Jemima lost little, if any, of her prestige by this
fiasco. She was called by her followers "The Universal Friend," perhaps
with double meaning, since she was educated by the Friends, and in some
ways professed the tenets of their sect,--and in 1790 led a small but
enthusiastic band of worshippers to a tract in western New York, near
Penn Van, where, at a place called Jerusalem, the inspired prophetess
and thaumaturgist died in 1819. As late as 1850 some of her credulous
followers still existed, but they are now practically extinct.

Though neither of these women exercised any formative effect upon the
American woman of the present, they were typical of a certain class of
perverted femininity, and remarkable in their resemblance to later idols
of their kind, and are thus worthy of chronicle. They are well cleared
from our way, however, and we may turn to more pleasant themes in the
story of the truer representatives of American womanhood of the
mid-eighteenth century.

The name of one--the first in many ways--of these representatives will
involuntarily rise to the thought, if not to the lips, of every reader
of this book,--the name of Mary Washington, the mother of him who is
still generally regarded as the greatest of Americans. It may be that
the fame of Mary Washington is vicarious, that it rests entirely upon
the character and exploits of her great son; but this, as with most of
the verdicts of history, is not well deserved. The greatness of George
Washington may not be called in question; but it is no treason to
assert--he would have been the first to acknowledge--that the
foundations of that greatness, both of character and achievement, were
the handiwork of his mother. She was herself great in all the qualities
that make for grandeur in womanhood. Here is what is said of her by one
of her biographers:

"She was remarkable for vigor of intellect, strength of resolution, and
inflexible firmness wherever principle was concerned. Devoted to the
education of her children, her parental government and guidance have
been described by those who knew her as admirably adapted to train the
youthful mind to wisdom and virtue. With her, affection was regulated by
a calm and just judgment. She was distinguished, moreover, by that well
marked quality of genius, a power of acquiring and maintaining influence
over those with whom she associated. Without inquiring into the
philoso