A letter from Harriet Martineau about the Lowell Offering, the periodical written by women workers in the Lowell, Massachusetts cotton mills. She describes her visit to Lowell and the mills at Waltham, the girls' Lyceum, their wages, 70-hour work weeks, boarding houses, dress, savings, and education. She argues that their cultivation of mind and their motives, such as supporting brothers' education or paying off family mortgages, keep them healthy and cheerful in factory labor.