Liberty advocate., 1845-06-28
From the National ntslligenser,
" MIND AMONG THE SPINDLES,n -
A SELECTION FROM THE "LowELL OFFERING

Il A SELECTION FROM THE "L0WELL OFFERING
j Most Of our readers are, no doubt
aware that miscellany, lci3Hy composed
By tie factory girls Of Lowell in Massachl
se.ts, has been published at that place
since October, 1910, The publ catior
arose out of the meetings of an aSsocia
ton OF young women, called Tie Mu.
tual Improvement Society" Two vol
umes of this interesting work were com
pIeted in December, l842, and from ;ho
contents of these volumes, an English
publisher, Mr.. CHARLES KNIGHT, has Sc
lected the materials for publication un.
der the title Of Mind Among the Spin
dies" Respecting the Lowell Offering.
the North American Review says; F." any
of the articles are such as to satisfy The
reader at once that if he has only taken
up the Offering as phenomenon, and
not as what may bear criticism aud re
ISr %ard ana pse5ps2 dshsI ~ s bes RsE a Bis
as may be-" They editor of the volume
before US says: "We must honestly con
feSs that we looked at the purusal OF these
closely printed eight hundred pages (the
two volumes OF The Otering' as some
thing OF task, We ielt that all literary
productions, and, indeed, ali works Of art,
should in great degree be judged with
out reference 10 the condition Of the pro,
ducer. 1t was duty 20 read the Lowell
Offering The day that saw US begin
the fir paper was witness TO our contIn-
ued reading till night found US busy al
the last page, not for duty but a real
pleasure"
MIR. KNIGHT thus states his opinion o!
the "OlIerlng"
"The qualities which most struck US
in these volum swere chiefly these. First,
is an entire absence of ali pretension in
the writers to be what they are not.
They are factory girls; they always call
themselves girls" they have no alec'a-
ton of gentjity, and, and by natral
consequence, they are essentially free
from all vulgority. They descGioe the
scenes among which they live, their la
bors, and their pleasures; the little fol
lies Of some of their number, their pure
tastes aud uneXpensi9o enjoyments Of
others They feel aud consIaatly pro-
claim without en- etfpn that they htnk L
an ho nor TO labor wah their hands; they
recognize the real dignity Of ali useful
employments, They know that there is
no occupation really unworthy of men or
women but the selfish pursuit of what is
called pleasure, without the desire to pro
mote tho good ofolhers BY physical; intel
ectual, or moral exertions. s.-Secondly,
many Of these papers clearly show under
what influences these young women have
been brought up. An earnest feeling o!
piety pervades their recolleclions OF the
past and their hopes for the future. The
thoughts of home, too, lie deep in their
hearts. Thirdly, is genuine patriotism
in the tone Of many Of these productions,
which is by the defendants 0! The
stern freemen who in the New England
looked tearlully back upon
their fatherl land. FourthIy, like all wri
Iers of good natural taste who have not
been perverted into mere imltators OF
other writers, they perceive that there IS
a great sou rec OF interest in descrlhIngl
simply and correctly what they have VII
messed with their own eyes. Lastly.
although they are necessarily in these
volumes, as in every miscellany some
Ihings which are tedious and some puer-
lie, mock sentimcntalities, and labored
efforts at fine writings, we ihink il would
10 dIthcuit upon the whole for a large body i
If contributors writing under great in
iulgence, to produce so much matter with
20 hue Of bad taste. OF pedantry there
IS literally none. The writer's are fami-