%116. Sons of Liberty.%--Meantime, the colonists had not been idle. Taking the name of "Sons of Liberty," a name given to them in a speech by a member of Parliament (named Barré) friendly to their cause, they began to associate for resistance to the Stamp Act. At first, they were content to demand that the stamp distributors named by the colonial agents in London should resign. But when these officers refused, the people became violent; and at Boston, Newark, N.J., New Haven, New London, Conn., at Providence, at Newport, R.I., at Dover, N.H., at Annapolis, Md., serious riots took place. Buildings were torn down, and more than one unhappy distributor was dragged from his home, and forced to stand before the people and shout, "Liberty, property, and no stamps." %117. November 1, 1765.%--As the 1st of November, the day on which the Stamp Act was to go into force, approached, the newspapers appeared decorated with death's-heads, black borders, coffins, and obituary notices. The _Pennsylvania Journal_ dropped its usual heading, and in place of it put an arch with a skull and crossbones underneath, and this motto, "Expiring in the hopes of a resurrection to life again." In one corner was a coffin, and the words, "The last remains of the _Pennsylvania Journal_, which departed this life the 31st of October, 1765, of a stamp in her vitals. Aged 23 years." The _Pennsylvania Gazette_, on November 7, the day of its first issue after the Stamp Act became law, published a half sheet, printed on one side, without any heading, and in its place the words, "No stamped paper to be had." During the next six months, every scrap of stamped paper that was heard of was hunted up and given to the flames. Thus, when a vessel from Barbados, with a stamped newspaper published on that island, reached Philadelphia, the paper was seized and burned, one evening, at the coffeehouse, in the presence of a great crowd. A vessel having put in from Halifax, a rumor spread that the captain had brought stamped paper with him, and was going to use it for his Philadelphia clearance. This so enraged the people that the vessel was searched, and a sheet of paper with three stamps on it was found, and burned at the coffee-house. %118. Non-importation Agreements.%--Meantime, the merchants in the larger towns, and the people all over the country, had been making written agreements not to import any goods from England for some months to come. The effect of this measure was immense. Not a merchant nor a manufacturer in Great Britain, engaged in the colonial trade, but found his American orders canceled and his goods left on his hands. Not a ship returned from this country but carried back English wares which it had brought here to sell, but for which no purchaser could be found.