Miscellany: The Lowell Girls

Tyne.mouth, May 30, 1844. 5 My Dear JPriend: - Your interest in hi$ Loworll. boók cannot scarcely equal roine, for I haveseen the factory girls ún their. Lyceum, and have gone over the cotton milis at W altham, and raade myelf familiar on the spot wifih feetory life in New Englaad so l'hat in reading the 'offeriag,' í a-w again m my niemory the treelof 'houses built by the eamiogs of (íheirls, thechurch which is their ,property, and the girls themselvesiiripping to ihe mili, with their heoMiy coun.tenance, áitvá their rieat dress and fjuiet manners, resembling those of the tradesman class of our 'country.My Visit to Lowéll was merely forone in eompany with Mr. Emerson's party- he (the pride and boast of New England as an author áfid: pliilosopher) being engaged by the Lowell factory peóple to lecture to tliem, in a winter course of historica! ' biography. Of course, the lectures were delivered in the cvening after the milis were closed. The girls were theirworking seventy hotïfs a vreek,, yet as I looked at the large' atrdience (and I attended more fo thern than to the leoture) í saw no sign of weariness among any ofthem. Théy sat, row beliind row, in their own Lyceum - a large ïialf, wainscofed with inahogany, the platform carpeted, weil lighted, provided with a handsome tablc, desk and seat, adorned Avith porlraits of a few wortlnes; and as they thus sat lislening to their lecturer, II wakfui and interestedy all well dressed and lady hfce, I couíd not böt feel my heart swell at the thought of Whaí súch a siglif would be with us. The diflerence is not in rank, foi' these yonjjg peopje were all daughters of pareuts.yho. earn íhcir bread witli their own hands. It is not in the amountof wages' however usual that supposition is, for they wem flien earning from one to threelars a week, besides tlieir food; the children one dollar (4s. 3d.) the second rate vvorkers two dollars, and the best Ihree, the cost of dress andnecessary cotnforts being much above what the same class expend in this country. It is not in the amount of toil; for, as I said, they work seventy clear hours per week. Tlie difference was in their superior culture. - Their minds are kept fresh, strong and free, by knowledge and power of lliought; and this is the reason why they are not worn and depressed under labors. They begin with a poorer chance for hcalth than our people, for the health our New England women generally is not good, owing to circumstances of climate and other influences; but among the 3800 women and girls in the Lowell milis when I was there, the average of health was not lower than elsewhere, and the disease which was most mischievous was the same that proves fatal over the whole country consumption; while there vvere no complaints peculiar to mili life. At Waltham, where I saw the milis, and had conversation with the people, I had an opporfunity of observing the invigorating effects of mind in a life of labor. Twice the wages and half the toil would not have made the girls I saw happy and healthy, without thecultivation of mind which aftbrded them perpetual support, entertainment, and motiveity. They were not bighly educated, but liad pleasure in books and lectures, in correspondence with borne; and their minds so open to fresh ideas, as to be drawn off from thoughtsoftheraselves and their own concerns. When at woik they were amused with thinking over the last book they liad read, or with planning the account they should write home of the last Sunday's sermón, or with singing over to themselves the song they meantio practice in the evening; and when evening carne nothing was heard of tircd limbsand eagerness for bed, but, if it was summer. they sal lied out, the moment tea was over, for a walk; ifitwas winter, to the lecture room or to the hall room fora dance, or they got an hour's practice at the piano, or wrote home, or shut themselves up wilh a new book. It was during ,the hou rs of work in the mili that the papers in the 'ofTering' were rneditated, &L it was after work in the evenings that they were penned. "There is, however, in the case of these girls, a stronger support, a more elastic spring of vigor and cheerfulness than even an active and cultivated understanding. - The institution of factory labor has bro't ease of heart to many, and to many occasions for noble and glorious deeds. - The ease of heart is given to those who were before suffcring the silent pöverty, from the deficiency of profitable employment for women, which is even grealer in America iban with us. It used to beuntlersiood there Ihat all women were maintained by the men of their families; but the young raen .of N. Eiagland are apt to troop off into the West to settle in new lands, leaving sisters at home. Some few return to fetch a wife, but the graater number do not, and thus -a vast over aroportlon of young women remains; to a multitude of these the opening of factories was n most welcome event, afïbrdi&g means-of honorable maintenance, in exc'hange for pining poverty at home. "As for the noble deeds, it makes one's leart rejoice to stand in these milis and lear 1he domestic history of some vvho are working before one's eyes, unconscious of jeing observed or of being the object of any admiration. Ifoneofthe sons of a Vew England farmer shows a lo ve for books and thought, the ambition of an afectionate sister is roused, and she thinks of the glory and honor to the whole famly, and the blessings to him, if he could lave a college edücation. She ponders his till she tells her parentssome day, of ïer wish to go to Lowell, and earn the means of sending her brother to college. The desire is yet more urgent, if the jrother has a pious mind and a wish to enter the ministry. Many a clergyman n America luis been prepared for his unction by the ciovoted industry of sisters; and many a scholar and professional nan dates his elevation in social rank ind usefulness from his sister's, or even some affectionate aunt's entrance upon mili life for his sake. Many girls pcrceiving anxiety in their father's (aces on iccount of the iarm being encumbered, and age coming on without release (Vom he debt, have gone to Lowell, and worked till the mortgage was paid ofij and the Ule family pioperty free. Such motives nay well lighten and sweeten labor; and o sucti girls labor is light and sweet. "Some, who have no such caíls, imite ie surplus of their earnings to Uuild wellings for their own residence, si., ight, or twelve living togelher willi the vidowed mother or clderly aunt of one of ieui to keep house for, and give counleance to the jparty. 1 saw a whole streetof houses so built and ow'ned at WaHham; pretty frame houses, with the broad piazzu and the green "Yenitinn blinds, that give such an air of cóolness and pleasantness to American villagcs and country abodes. There is the largo airy c-ating room, with a few prints hung up, the piano at one end, and the united libra ries of the girls, forming a good look ing array of books, tho rocking chans universal in America, the stove adorned in summer with fiowers, and the longdining table in the middle. The chambers do not answer to our English ideas of comfort. There is there a st range absence of. the wish for privacy; and more girls are accommodated in one room than we should see any reason for in such comibrtable and pïetty houses. "In the milis the girls have quito the appearance of ladies. Thèy sally forth in the morning with their umbrellas in threatening weather, their calashes to keep their hair neat, gowns of print or gingham, with a perfect fit, worked collars or pelerines, and waistbands of ribbon. For Sundays and social eveiüngs they have their silk gowns and ncat gloves and shoes. Yèt ihrongh proper economy - the economy ofeducaicd and thoughtful people - they are able to lay by for such purposes as I have nïentioned ibove: the deposites in the Lowel Savings Bank were in 1834, upwards of 114,000 dollars, the number of operatives being 5000, of whom 3800 were women and girls. "1 thank you for calling my attention to this subject. It is one I have pleasure in recurring to. There ik nothing in America which necessilates the prösperity of manufactures as of agriculture, and there is nothing of good in ihoir factory system which may not be emulated elsewhere - 'equalled elsewhere, when the people employed are so educated as to have thecommandof themselves and of their lot in life, .which is ahvny.s and everywhere controlled by mind, far more than by outward circurnstances. I am, very truly, vours,