There are Many Cases, and Many Seasons, wherein, Men must either Bend
or Break: But Conscience, Honour, and Good Manners, are first to be
Consulted. When a Tree is Press’d with a strong Wind, the Branches may
Yield, and yet the Root remain Firm. But Discretion is to Govern us,
where and when we may be Allow’d to Temporize, and where and when not.
When Bending or Breaking is the Question, and Men have No Other Choice
before them, then either of Complying, or of being Undone; ’tis No Easie
Matter to Distinguish, Where, When, How, or to What Degree, to Yield to
the Importunity of the Occasion, or the Difficulty of the Times. It is
a Certain Rule, ’tis true (but a General One) That _No Ill is to be done
that Good may come of it_: Now the Point will be at last, what’s _Simply_
Good or Evil; What in the _Contemplation_; and how far the _Intention_,
or the Probable _Consequences_ of such, or such an Action, may Qualifie
the Case: Taking This Consideration along with us too, that we are under
a Great Temptation to be Partial in favour of our selves, in the Matter
of Ease, Profit, or Safety.
The First Point to be Preserv’d Sacred, and from whence a Man is never
to Depart, though for the Saving of his Life, Liberty, Popular Credit,
or Estate; That First Point, I say, is _Conscience_. Now All Duties
are Matter of _Conscience_, respectively to the Subject that they are
Exercis’d upon; Only with this Restriction, that a Superior Obligation
Discharges, or at least Suspends the Force of an Inferior: As to such a
Circumstance for the Purpose, such a Degree, or such a Season. Now there
are other Niceties also, as of Honour, Decency, and Discretion, Humanity,
Modesty, Respect, _&c._ that border even upon the Indispensable Tyes
of Religion it self; and though they are Not Matter of _Conscience_,
Simply, and Apart, they are yet so Reductively, with a Regard to Other
Considerations: That is to say, though they are Not so in the Abstract,
they Become so by Affinity and Connexion: And such Civil Matters they
are, as fall within the Purlews of Religion. There are Tryals of Men, as
well as Tryals of Trees. Storms or Inundations are the same Thing to the
One, that the Iniquity of such or such an Age, or Conjuncture, is to the
Other. Now ’tis not Courage but Stomack, that makes many People Break,
rather then they will Bend; even though a Yielding upon that _Puntillo_
(and with a Good Conscience too) might perhaps have sav’d a State.
Fractures Undoubtedly are Dangerous, where the Publick is to be Crush’d
under the Ruine: But yet after All This Discanting, and Modifying upon
the Matter, there’s no less Hazzard on the Yielding side too, then there
is on the other. Men may be Stiff and Obstinate, upon a Wrong Ground, and
Men may Ply, and Truckle too, upon as False a Foundation. Our Bodies may
be forc’d, but our Minds Cannot: So that Humane Frailty is No Excuse for
a Criminal Immorality. Where the Law of God and Nature Obliges me, the
Plea of Humane Frailty can Never Discharge me. There’s as much Difference
betwixt Bending and Sinking, as there is betwixt Breaking and Bending.
There must be no Contending with Insuperable Powers on the One Hand, and
no Departing from Indispensable Duties on the Other: Nor is it the Part,
either of a Christian, or of a Man, to abandon his Post. Now the Just
_Medium_ of This Case lies betwixt the Pride, and the Abjection of the
Two Extreams. As the _Willow_, for the Purpose, _Bows_, and _Recovers_,
and the Resignation is Crown’d and Rewarded in the Success. The _Oak_ is
_Stubborn_, and _Inflexible_, and the _Punishment_ of that _Stiffness_,
is One Branch of the _Allegory_ of This Fable.