I came to Lowell, determined that, if I had my own living to obtain, I would get it in my own way; that I would read, think, and _write when I could_, without restraint; that if I did well I would have the credit of it, if ill, my friends should be relieved from the stigma. I endeavored to reconcile them to my lot by a devotion of all my spare earnings to them and their interests. I made good wages; I dressed economically; I assisted in the liberal education of one brother, and endeavored to be the guardian angel to a lovely sister.... It was something so new to me to be praised and encouraged to write that I was at first overwhelmed by it, ... and it was with great reluctance that I consented to edit [_The Lowell Offering_], and was quite as unwilling at first to assist in publishing. But circumstances seem to have compelled me forward as a business woman, and I have endeavored to _do my duty_. I am now the proprietor of _The New England Offering_. I do all the publishing, editing, canvassing; and as it is bound at my office, I can, in a hurry, help fold, cut covers, stitch, etc. I have a little girl to assist me in the folding, stitching, etc.; the rest, after it comes from the printer’s hand, is all my own work. I employ no agents, and depend upon no one for assistance. My edition is four thousand. These details, I trust, are not tedious. I have given them because I thought there was nothing remarkable about _The Offering_ but its source and the mode in which it was conducted.” Of her connection with Mr. Thomas’s Improvement Circle and _The Lowell Offering_, Miss Farley has said to a friend: “The Circle met in the Sunday-school rooms, and they were not only filled, but crowded. There was a box placed at the entrance, so that, if preferred, the writers could be anonymous; and sometimes topics were suggested. It seemed almost like an insult when Mr. Thomas first offered payment for these little mental efforts of our leisure hours. ‘I can understand this feeling,’ he said. ‘I was brought up a Quaker, and my grandfather never took pay for preaching. The first money that was ever placed in my hands for this service seemed to burn into my palms.’ There was a little pile, all in gold, left for our share of the profits of the first series. “When I first took the editorial position, I left my regular place to be what is called a ‘spare hand.’ This gave leisure for what I had to do, and there never was any difficulty about contributions. A large bundle of manuscripts left by Mr. Thomas was never resorted to but when some short paper was wanted to fill out a vacant space. “In the printing-office were Messrs. Hale, Stearns, Taylor, Brown, and others, always respectful, kind, and obliging. In the outer office was Mr. W. S. Robinson, afterwards known as ‘Warrington.’ These men would soon have discovered if there had been false pretences about the writers for the magazine.”