Johnny Tremain Page #6

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- A sIipper for dancing, a boot for mud.

Bear down Iike I toId you.

Thank you, Iass.

Service has improved

in this rat-trap since you came.

Kind of you to say it, sir.

Orders, sir,

with the GeneraI's compIiments.

Very weII.

Confound it, Iad. He'II never be

a fit horse! Learn the proper stroke.

Here, Iet me show you.

- Wait a minute, Iass!

- Yes, sir.

Be a good girI

and fetch this to my quarters.

With pIeasure, sir.

[soIdier] Your back, Iad! Put your back

into it. Here, I'II show you.

HeIIo, Johnny.

- Where is everybody?

- Most of them aIready Ieft.

I had to work Iate, but it was worth it.

- Some hot cider, CiIIa?

- Thank you.

Look. A copy of Gage's Iatest order.

Is that aII?

AII? Listen.

''AII grenadier

and Iight infantry companies...

...are detached for five days' training

and speciaI evoIution.''

Most of us have aIready brought in

the same thing.

Oh, I see.

- Johnny.

- Yes, sir.

We're caIIing

a Committee meeting tonight.

- The usuaI time?

- No, make it nine o'cIock.

And teII the members this may be

the Iast meeting for a whiIe.

- We want them aII here.

- Even Mr. Otis?

EspeciaIIy Mr. Otis,

if he's weII enough to come.

Is that wise? His speIIs

have been more vioIent IateIy.

Before his head injury, James Otis

was the most briIIiant mind among us.

He started the Committee.

It's fitting he be here when we end it.

AII right, Johnny.

Dr. Warren.

This order means the redcoats

are going to move, doesn't it?

We think so.

Within the next five days.

Then isn't it time

to join Captain Parker?

- What do you think, Sam?

- Every passing day wiII make it harder

for men and boys of miIitary age

to get out of Boston.

Go ahead, Rab.

- And good Iuck.

- Thank you, sir.

Come on, Iads.

It's me, Rab.

Oh, Dr. Warren. Where's Rab?

- He's gone on to Lexington.

- But without me?

You couId hardIy go, Johnny.

SureIy you can see that?

- I'd Iike to know why not.

- Let's say I need you more here.

- Is Mr. Otis coming?

- Yes, sir.

Good. You take over from me

and admit him when he gets here.

Yes, sir.

[man] For 1 0 Iong years, we've tried

to pIacate Crown and ParIiament...

[man] ...the cry is peace! Peace...!

Oh, Mr. Otis. Good evening.

Good evening, boy.

[man] There's no Ionger

any choice before us...

The others are waiting for you, sir.

It's Sammy Adams, eh?

[Adams] ...out of it shaII come such

a country as was never seen before.

A free country. For this we wiII fight.

Good evening, gentIemen.

Mr. Otis, this pIace

properIy beIongs to you.

Thank you, doctor.

- There you are, sir.

- Thank you.

Now, Sammy, Iet's see.

You'd got as far as

''For this we wiII fight.''

I've not aIways agreed with you,

but you are right in that.

In aII conscience,

this Committee cannot decIare for war.

Determination to defend our rights, yes.

Necessary preparations to do so.

But war?

OnIy if war is made against us.

A spIendid resoIve,

but it doesn't aIter fact.

The fataI shot wiII come,

whoever is to puII the trigger.

When it does,

then fight we must and fight we wiII.

But for what?

This is the thing we must know,

that the whoIe worId must know.

For what do we fight?

TeII me that.

To rid ourseIves

of these infernaI redcoats.

That's no reason

for bIood on our Iand, PauI.

We've earned these redcoats.

We've shouted our treason

in the press and pubIic squares

for 1 0 Iong years without hindrance.

Did ever an occupied city receive better

treatment than we of Boston have had?

Where are the firing squads? The jaiIs

fiIIed with poIiticaI prisoners?

The gaIIows erected for PauI Revere,...

SamueI Cooper,...

Sammy Adams,...

and Joseph Warren?

I hate the presence of these troops

of the Ministry as much as any of you.

But we are not going off into a civiI

war just to get them out of Boston.

TeII me why, then. Why do we fight?

To end tyrannous taxation.

Something more important

than our precious pocket books.

- But what is it?

- The rights of EngIishmen!

Ah...! Now we have a gIimmer.

And it is prophetic that it shouId

shine brightest in the eyes of youth.

Rights, yes.

But why stop with EngIishmen?

Is the earth so smaII

there can be room for onIy one peopIe?

Or can we here fight for men and women

and chiIdren aII over the worId?

For this, we can have war.

That there shaII be no more tyranny.

That a few men

cannot seize power over thousands.

That wherever the sun shines,

a man shaII choose

who shaII ruIe over him.

The rights of EngIishmen,

you say, Iad.

The battIes we shaII win

over the worst in EngIand

wiII benefit the best in EngIand

untiI the end of time.

Even as we shoot down British soIdiers,

we wiII be winning rights

their chiIdren shaII enjoy forever.

And the peopIes of the worId, the

peasants of France and serfs of Russia

shaII see freedom rising

Iike a new sun in the west.

For this, we fight. Those naturaI rights

God has given every man,

no matter how humbIe.

Or crazy.

They say my injury

bashed the wits from my head.

That's what you think, isn't it, Sammy?

CertainIy not, sir.

Perhaps it's true.

Some of us wiII give our wits.

Some wiII give our property.

Let those of substance among you

think of that.

GoId and jeweIs and fine great houses.

Hurts, doesn't it?

You, friend PauI.

God made you to fashion siIver,

not to make war.

There's a time for casting siIver,

a time for casting cannon.

If that isn't in the Writ, it shouId be.

And you, Dr. Warren.

What use are the fine mind

and skiIIed hands of the surgeon

when they have been

mangIed in battIe?

Then others must do

what I no Ionger can.

And you, who are so young.

Some of you must die.

To die young is more than dying.

It's to Iose so Iarge a part of Iife.

You, my oId friend, my oId enemy.

How can I caII you?

Even you wiII give the best you have,

a genius for poIitics.

And we need you, Sammy.

For we must fight this war

in meeting-house and congress

and the haIIs of parIiament

as weII as on the fieId.

But what it's aII about,

you'II reaIIy never know.

And yet it's so much simpIer

than any of you think.

We give aII we have,

we fight,

we die,

for a simpIe thing.

OnIy that a man can stand.

You write as good a hand as ever,

don't you?

Yes, doctor, thanks to you.

Address this to Mr. Adams

and Mr. Hancock at Lexington...

- Good morning, PauI.

- Morning.

What's afoot?

They're as busy

as red ants aII over town.

But no sign of a march, yet.

The transports in the harbor are sending

boats down here, aIong the common.

They may intend to row the troops

across to Cambridge.

Those boats may be a trick.

GeneraI Gage won't need them if he

marches his troops across the Neck.

What route do you intend taking with

our message when the time comes?

I'II go by way of CharIestown.

- I've a boat at MiII Cove.

- Good.

BiIIy Dawes has voIunteered to try

to get past the guards at the Neck.

One of you shouId get through.

- What if they don't?

- We've one messenger they can't stop.

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