You will never find matters of church and patriotism very far apart in New England; so I learn that when they met in Ipswich the Daughters of Liberty were also entertained with a sermon. The Newbury patriots drank Liberty Tea, and listened to a sermon on the text Proverbs xxxi. 19. Another text used at one of these gatherings was from Exodus xxxv. 25: “And all the women that were wise-hearted did spin with their hands.” The women of Virginia were early in the patriotic impulses, yet few proofs of their action or determination remain. In a Northern paper, the _Boston Evening Post_ of January 31, 1770, we read this Toast to the Southerners:-- NEW TOASTS. The patriotic ladies of Virginia, who have nobly distinguished themselves by appearing in the Manufactures of America, and may those of the Massachusetts be laudably ambitious of not being outdone by Virginians. The wise and virtuous part of the Fair Sex in Boston and other Towns, who being at length sensible that by the consumption of Teas they are supporting the Commissioners & other Tools of Power, have voluntarily agreed not to give or receive any further Entertainments of that Kind, until those Creatures, together with the Boston Standing Army, are removed, and the Revenue Acts repealed. May the disgrace which a late venal & corrupt Assembly has brought upon a Sister Colony, be wiped away by a Dissolution. This is pretty plain language, but it could not be strange to the public ear, for ere this Boston women had been appealed to in the press upon this same subject. In the _Massachusetts Gazette_, as early as November 9, 1767, these lines show the indignant and revolutionary spirit of the time: Young ladies in town and those that live round Let a friend at this season advise you. Since money’s so scarce and times growing worse, Strange things may soon hap and surprise you. First then throw aside your high top knots of pride Wear none but your own country linen. Of economy boast. Let your pride be the most To show cloaths of your own make and spinning. What if homespun they say is not quite so gay As brocades, yet be not in a passion, For when once it is known this is much wore in town, One and all will cry out ’Tis the fashion. And as one and all agree that you’ll not married be To such as will wear London factory But at first sight refuse, till e’en such you do choose As encourage our own manufactory. Soon these frequent appeals, and the influence of the public and earnest revolt of the Sons of Liberty, resulted in a public compact of Boston women. It is thus recorded in the Boston press:-- The _Boston Evening Post_:-- Monday, February 12, 1770. The following agreement has lately been come into by upwards of 300 Mistresses of Families in this Town; in which Number the Ladies of the highest rank and Influence, that could be waited upon in so short a Time, are included.