yramidical, and the height of the obelisk
forty-five feet. A colossal bust of Washington adorned the shaft,
surmounted by the American eagle sustaining a civic crown above the
hero's head, and with the simple inscription:

MARY,
THE MOTHER OF
WASHINGTON.

From President Jackson's eulogy on the interesting occasion, we make the
following brief extract:

"In the grave before us lie the remains of his mother. Long has it been
unmarked by any monumental tablet, but not unhonored. You have
undertaken the pious duty of erecting a column to her name, and of
inscribing upon it the simple but affecting words, 'Mary, the Mother of
Washington.' No eulogy could be higher, and it appeals to the heart of
every American.... The mother and son are beyond the reach of human
applause, but the bright example of paternal and filial excellence which
their conduct furnishes cannot but produce the most salutary effects
upon our countrymen. Let their example be before us from the first
lesson which is taught the child, till the mother's duties yield to the
course of preparation and action which nature prescribes for him....

"Fellow citizens, at your request, and in your name, I now deposit this
plate in the spot destined for it; and when the American pilgrim shall,
in after ages, come up to this high and holy place, and lay his hand
upon this sacred column, may he recall the virtues of her who sleeps
beneath, and depart with his affections purified and his piety
strengthened, while he invokes blessings upon the mother of Washington."

John Adams wrote to his wife concerning a certain statesman: "In reading
history, you will generally observe, when you find a great character,
whether a general, a statesman, or a philosopher, some female about him,
either in the character of a mother, wife, or sister, who has knowledge
and ambition above the ordinary level of women; and that much of his
eminence is owing to her precepts, example, or instigation in some shape
or other."

This remark was remarkably illustrated in the career of Washington. He
always acknowledged his indebtedness to maternal influence. He could
say, with John Quincy Adams, "Such as I have been, whatever it was; such
as I am, whatever it is; and such as I hope to be in all futurity, must
be ascribed, under Providence, to the precepts and example of my
mother."

Historians and poets, statesmen and orators, have ever accorded to the
mother of Washington a si