Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1840-1842, 1842-11-16

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psuep& Moreover. there ~ese place. In The mill
Il IN Which thcy esad deposit these thin<s vhhou,
I,niaryi and there COW snienecs Zoe washing.
they sers healthy ia aPpsarnnec. many Of them
I"enarxahiv So and had tho manners and depot
meni OF youax women; not Of degraded bra'es Of
5otdsn. II had in OF those mills (but I
did not, though looked foe sosne,hine Of this kind
With sharpe eYe.) the most h-ping. mineins, nj
'eetei. and ridiculous youOs creature that my ina
sGatIon could susees, shauld have thought Of the
careless, mopng, satterniy. degraded, dull reverse
hars seen that,l aud should have beoa slill we'll
| pleased to look upon her.
The rooms in which they worked. wers ns we'll
ordered m themselves. Ii the windows OF SOME,
there were green plans, which were trained To
shade the glass; IN ALL there was a, much flesh air,
clesnlness, and comfort "a the nature Of the oecu
patton would pos IDLY admit of. GA, OF NJ large a
number oil itmaies. many VI whom were jist verg-
'ns upon wominhood. IL map bs rea,ooably SUP.
pissed that some we're delicate aud in appear
ancs; no doubt they wee.
Bat sole lunly declare. that from all the crowl
saw in the different factories that day. cannot re
cal or separate one young face that gave me pain
tnl ,mrrss"on; not one young eisl whom, assgm.
Ing to be matter OF necessity that she should gain
her daily bread by the Labor Of her hsnis wsuid
have removed foa those work, il had had the
Ip,we-.
| They reside in various boNrding houses ne,r nj
hand Ihs owners OF the mills ore particularly
careful TO a'loS person, to enter upon the nos.
SCISSOR oil these houses, whose ch,raete. have not
uadoFgono the most searching and thorough inqui
ry. Any complaint tia, Is made against them by
the boatder-. or by any one else is fully investya.
ted; AMI It good ground OF complain We showa to
eSis; against them. they are removed, and their oc
cupAtion IL handed TO some more deserving
| person There are few children employed In
| thcsc tacories, but not many. The laws ul the
State forbid their working more than nine months
IN the year, and require that they be educated dur
| ins the oher three. For this purpose there era
schools IN Lowell; and there are churches and cha
pels Of various psrsuasions, in which the young
farm of Ia, ia. -
they have been educated.
Al some distance ffom the factories and on the
highest aud pleasanlest g;ound in the neiyLbor-
hood, stands their hospital or boarding house for
the SICK Il is the lest house in those psrt. md
was built by an eminent merchant for his own resi-.
dsnce. Like that institution at Boston which have
before deseubct, II Is not parcelici GU, into wards
out divided ieto convenient chambers, each OF
winch has al! tho comforts of a very comfortable
hom,. The principal medical attendant resides I'm.
der the same rooi; and were the patents members
o. his own amiiy, III y could not DC better cared for
or attended with sTeater genteness and considera
ZION. Inc weekly charge in this establishment for
each female plticn, is ,hrOc dollars or twelve shil.
linss English; but no gSl employed by any of the
corporations ever excluded for want CT the means
OF payment. That they do not very often want
the means, may be gathered tom tho fac' that in
y, 1871, no fewer than nine hundred and seventy.
e'ght oil these girls were depOstors in the Lowell
savings Bank the amount Of whose join savings
was estimated a. one hundred thous md dollars or
twenty thou'and Englsh pounds.
am now going TO state three facts which will
starte large class of readers on this side of the
Atlantic, very much.
Firstly, there is a joint. stock piano in q great
many OF the boarding houses. Secondly, nearly
all these young ladies' subscribe TO Circulating II
braries. Thirdly, they have got up among them
selves a periodical called The Lowell Offerine-
"A repository oil original articles, written excu.
sivsiy 10y fems'e, actively employed in the mills
which IS duly printed published, and cold; and
whereof brought away from Lowell four bundled
good solid pages, which have read from beginning
10 end.
The large class of readers startled by these facts
will excliin, with one voice, "How yery nrenos,e.
rous!" Oh my deferen,ialy inquiring why. thew
VIII answer, These things above their station -
10 reply TO tha, objection, would beg TO ask what
their station IL.
IL is :hsir station to work. And they do work.
They labor IN these mills, upon an average twelve
hours day, which is urquestonably work. and
pretty tight work too. Perhaps il is above their
station to indulge in such amusomsnts on any terms
Are we quie sure that VIC in Enelind have not
formed our ideas of the "sation" of working peo
pie, from accus,omng ourselves II the con,empla-
ton Of that class rs they are, and they might
BET think that Il we examine our own feelings
we shall md that the pianos, and the circulating
libraries, and even the Lowell Offering, stane us
by their novelty, and not by their bearing upon any
abstrac; questions OF right or wrong.
For myself, know no station in which the occu
patton OF to-day cheeriully done and the occueaton
D.
pursuits 10 not most human.zing and liudable |
know no station which is rendered more endurable
10 the person IN II, safe the person out of
II, by having ignorance for its associate. know no
station which has right 10 monopol.z. the means
OF mutual instruction, improvement and rational
entertainments or which has ever continued TO he
station very long hi'er seeking to do So
Oi the merits OF The Lowell Offering rs literary
production, will o"ly observe putting entirely out
of SIGH, the fac; OF the articles having been written
lle f,l NJ he
that 1t will compare advan;as cously with a c,elt
many English AnLuals. IL 10 pleasant To fad that
m .'y OF tic Tales aro OF the Mills and Of those
who work IN them; that they Inculcato habits of
sell denial and con en'meni, md teach good doc
trines Of enlarged Gencvolencc. A strong feeling
for The beauties Of naturr displayed in the sol-
tudos the writers have left home brelthes through
rs pages like wholesome villags air; and nltboush
a Circulating library IS favorable school for the
study OF such topics, II hso very scant ausion 10
hue marriages. hne houses, or fine life Some per
sons might Object TO the pagers being signed occa-
sionaiiy wrh rather hno names, but this is on A. |
merican fashion. One OF the provinces CT The State
Legislature Of Massachusetts is TO alter ugly name
into pretty ones, ns the children Improve upon tho
tastes OF their parens. Thee changes costing lii lie
or noihng, soores of Mary Annes are soltmn;y
converted into Beyslinas every session.
IL IS said that on the occasion Of visit from Ce
neral Jackson or General Harrison TO this TO ~n n |
iorso, which, but it Is not TO the purpose lie yak
ed through three miles and half Of these young |
'N'S'b N ue9SSu ou1 WIN pIEa5ols, nnu SILK Stock
ings.
But os am not aware that any worse eons,. |
quence ensued, than sudden lookng.up Of all the |
pIresols and silk stockings in the marke and pof-
haps the bankruptcy o; some speculative New In |
siander who bought them all up at any price, IN ex
peciation Of demand that never came, set no |
great store by the circumstance.
10 this brief account Of Lowell, end inad,a uste |
expression OF the graf h,Ation it yielded me, and
cannot Tail TO sfOrd 10 any foreigner to whom the
condition Of such people a, home is a subject OF in |
tefest and anxious speculation, have carefully ab
STAINED hom craving a comparison between these |
factories and those Of our la-d Many Of the |
circumstances whose strong influence has been ., |
work Tor years in our inulacturog tow ns have net
arisen herei and there is no manufacturing popua-
ton IN Lowell, 90 10 speak; for these girls (ocn
the daughters Of small Ermers) come from other
Stotee, remain few years in tho mills, and then
go homo for good.
The contrast would be strong one, for il would
be between the Coed and Evil, the living light and
deepest shsd1w. ! abstain from II, because deem
u Just to DO so. But Only the more earnestly adj
jure all those whose eyes may rest on these pages
70 pause and reflect upon the difference telween
this town snd those great haunts Of deperaic mis-:
ry; to call TO mind, II they con in the mids, Of
party STRIFE aud squabbe, the efforts tina, must 10
made to purge them Of their suffering and danger:
and last. and foremost, 10 remember how the pre-
eous Time isrushing Ivy.
GEORGIA LEGISLATURE.