New England Town 1660 (1969)

This is New Hampton, a small Puritan village inland from Boston. The year is 1660. This is a story about the people of New Hampton. People who are slowly developing a distinctively American society. Individual freedom is becoming more important, and the old controls of church and town elders are beginning to lose their hold. [Music] Good tomorrow, sir. You travel early. I've walked all night. How can I serve you? A morning draft, if you will. No doubt you would break your fast as well. In a moment. In a moment. The draft first, if you will, please. This cider is of my own press. I It will warm you, sir. It does. It does. Master inkeeper, I have here a letter addressed to a certain Master Thomas Goodbody of this village. Do you know him? Uh, yes. He's the village smith. A letter, did you say? Uh, the same. Addressed to Master Thomas Goodbody of the village of New Hampton. Where can I find him? Across the road. Just but a few rods. Hi. A letter. [Music] [Music] Master good body. The same, sir. I have a letter here for you from the west. This is indeed your name. It is. It is. Well, thank you, sir. Is Is there some return I can make? Uh, well, if you could, the lock on this old piece of mine broke yesterday when I would have shot a duck for my dinner. I I It's the pin on the lock is bent. I can repair it. Ah, thank you very much. It is an old thing to be without arms in the wilderness. Yes. Oh, by the by. I hear there is a miller nearby. Being a man of trade, I thought perhaps the miller and I could engage in a common business. Oh, I I Simon Spencer is the man you want. You'll find his mill about a 100 yards to the east of the town by the river there. It's easily found. Thank you very much. Well, thank you. The iron will be mended within an hour. Thank you. Charity, come after the shop. A letter, Charity. A letter. It was written by Shadwell. Well, you remember Charity on the boat coming from England. A small, dark man. A shoe maker. Yes. I believe he was to settle in the Connecticut. Why? Why? He's a rich man. He's taken up land in the Connecticut Valley and he would have us join him. Join him. See what he says. The valley is rich. The land is free. All that a man would have to do is to claim land that he would have and clear it. But surely you cannot think of removing to the west. You have a contract here with the town. A contract for 4 years and it's nearly done. But we have been happy here, Tom. And then there's the matter of religion. I must prove myself. They say you must learn to be patient. How long must the man be patient? Our neighbors feel as we do and they're members of the congregation. They're able to vote in the town meeting. But we we must prove ourselves. In the end, the church elders are reasonable men. We will be accepted. Tom, I begin to doubt it. The Reverend Jenkins and Elder White want no more dissent in the congregation. But they are just men. You must learn to listen, Tom. Not if I must learn God's will. Only when Reverend Jenkins and Elder White Dane to let me know of it. Four years of sweat over the ass and still we must prove ourselves. Is this reason? Is this justice? But the wilderness, the savages, and how can you be sure it will be any better there? Ah, nothing is certain, wife. Oh, all I'm saying is we must think on it. Hey, hey, I have work to do. It's my plow again. Rivets's broken. It is hard work, master good buddy. Hard work. A Smith has an easy life in comparison. Oh, I've been thinking about that. A friend uh asked me to take up land in the Connecticut Valley and become a farmer. The Lord knows this village needs a good smith, but you might be well advised to listen to your friend. My wife, I'm afraid, uh wouldn't agree. That's understandable. The West could be a hard place for a woman. But still, I tell you, Master Good Buddy, if you would make your fortune, consider it. Hot, hot, hot. Did you find Master Goodbody? I did. Important letter, no doubt. I wouldn't know. You wouldn't. It's hardly any of my affair. Is it? Oh, of course not. It's just that a letter Oh, good day, Tom. Your friend here and I were just speaking of you. You're much luck, sir. As good as new. That is fine work, Master Smith. Thank you, sir. Oh, stay t Have a drop of cider. Thank you. I hope the news I brought you was good. The letter was from a friend who took up land in the Connecticut. Now he would have me join him. The land is free to all comers. He says I that's the life that is. Get land, Tom, and be a gentleman. Get land and be rich. I'll dear all eh. And what do you mean by that, sir? No offense, friend. No offense. But if our smith here is free to leave the village, of course he should do so. But go east, Master Goodbody, not west, to Boston. To any city where the trade is, where there's trading, a man can be truly rich. I have a friend in Boston who repairs ships. He could use the good services of a smith like yourself. Go where the ships come in, where the gentry build fine houses and where hard money is exchanged. But uh the land in the in the Connecticut is is rich. So they say there's a chance for wealth there. The wealth will be of little use to a man who dies of hunger or the rising of savages. The Connecticut is a wilderness, Master Goodbody. Hundreds of miles of wilderness savages and wild beasts. Think of your wife. Have you no concern for her safety? Good tomorrow, master. Good buddy. Good morning, Master White. I come in behalf of the elders of Master's body. Your agreement with us is nearly expired. But we continue to leave your labors. We wish you to stay in New Hampton. I'm flattered that you should say so. Flatter is frivolous. Master good body. It's a simple matter of business. We need a blacksmith. You stay with us. I don't know. I have heard that a friend is urging you to take up land in the Connecticut. I It's a rich country. I could prosper there. Such prosperity master good body is illgotten and ungodly. Also to abandon the company of godly Puritans here in New Hampton to endanger your life and your wife for land and the hope of wealth. Verily it smacks of worldliness and arrogance. You astonish me, sir. One of the first Puritans who came from England, your father among them. Now, didn't uh didn't they risk their lives? Didn't they take up the land? Ah, but they were guided by the Almighty. In your case, the Reverend Jenkins and I have reason to think you might be damned. God demands strict discipline of those whom he hath truly saved. We have seen little evidence of any Christian discipline in your daily life. The elect, those who know God's grace in their hearts, always confess publicly the light that has been given them. And you have not done so. God's grace. If it is given to a man, it is not a matter for public boasting. He would leave us. He would leave New Hampton ungrateful, I call him. Did we not pay for his passage here? Did we not put food in the mouths of himself and his wife? It was what we were obliged to do by the contract we made, and he on his side has served us four years. He's done his part. Perhaps we could offer him a tract of land in the town. Certainly, it would be worth some concession to keep him here. We could take it up at the town meeting tomorrow night. Our land means nothing to a man who's determined to fly from security. the way he spoke to me. Such arrogance. Such Master White, with all respect, you do not know how to speak to an independent-minded man like Tom Goodbody. I And while I'm at it, I must tell you that your religious zeal is not always set well with others in this town. Those who uphold God's law have always had their enemies. It's not a matter of God's law. It's a matter of simply a matter of finding another smith. that Tom Goodbody is to leave us. Is Thomas Goodbody to leave us? Say now, will you leave us or will you stay? Tom Goodbody faces a dilemma that will confront hundreds, thousands, then millions of Americans in the centuries to come. Choosing between the security of the established community and the freedom and danger of new frontiers. ears.