“_Again_ a Mary? Nay, _Lucretia_, The noble, classic name That well befits our fair ladie, Our sweet and gentle dame, With heart as leal and loving As e’er was sung in lays Of high-born Roman matron, In old, heroic days; Worthy her lord illustrious, whom Honor and fame attend; Worthy her soldier’s name to wear, Worthy the civic wreath to share That binds her Viking’s tawny hair; Right proud are we the world should know As hers, him we long ago Found truest helper, friend.” Another woman, however, one of the members of the awe-inspiring geometry class named above, had, in the Hiram days, more influence on Garfield’s intellectual life than any other person. Miss Almeda A. Booth was a woman of wonderful force of mind and character. She was the daughter of New England parents, who had come to Ohio, where her father traveled over an immense circuit of country as an itinerant Methodist preacher. Almeda very early discovered intellectual tastes, and, at twelve, read such works as Rollin’s _Ancient History_ and Gibbon’s _Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire_. She taught her first school at seventeen. An engagement of marriage was broken by the death of her intended husband, and her life was ever afterward devoted to the business of teaching. Thus the quiet current of life was not wrecked, but went smoothly on, clear and beautiful. She was poor in what people call riches; the office of teacher gave support. She was sad because death had darkened her life; study was a never-failing solace. Her mind gloried in strength, and the opportunity for a career of useful exercise of its powers helped to make her happy. Henceforth she loved knowledge more than ever; and could freely say: “My mind to me a kingdom is. Such perfect joy therein I find, As far exceeds all earthly bliss That God or Nature hath assigned.”