Gods free mercy to England presented as a precious and powerful motive to humiliationGods free mercy to England presented as a pretious and powerfull motive to humiliation

The very brute beasts have bin wrought upon by mercy. Some write (though others contradict it) of the Elephant, that because it wants joints it cannot kneel, & if it once fall it cannot rise, and therefore when it sleeps it sleeps leaning upon a tree. Now the hunts-man observing upon what tree it sleeps, desirous to take it, comes in the day time, and saws that tree almost asunder, and when the Elephant comes to lean upon it, the tree falls, and the Elephant with it; Then comes the hunts-man, and lifts up the Elephant, which he takes so kindly, that ever after he follows the hunts-man where ever be pleaseth.

The very brute beasts have bin wrought upon by mercie. Some write (though others contradict it) of the Elephant, that because it wants joynts it cannot kneele, & if it once fall it cannot rise, and therefore when it sleeps it sleepes leaning upon a tree. Now the hunts-man observing upon what tree it sleeps, desirous to take it, comes in the day time, and sawes that tree almost asunder, and when the Elephant comes to leane upon it, the tree falls, and the Elephant with it; Then comes the hunts-man, and lifts up the Elephant, which he takes so kindly, that ever after he followes the hunts-man where ever be pleaseth.

This story may be applied divers ways. When we were all fallen in Adam by eating the fruit of the forbidden tree, unable to rise again, Jesus hath lifted us up from hell: O let this mercy melt us into obedience. When we were all fallen of late years ⟨p. 44⟩in this Kingdom into a desperate condition: God by the King and Parliament hath raised us up to a hope of better days. O let us be ashamed to be disobedient to this God. There is another famous story of one Androdus dwelling at Rome, that fled from his Master into the wilderness, and took shelter in a Lions Den; The Lion came home with a thorn in his foot, and seeing the man in the den reached out his foot, and the man pulled out the thorn; which the Lion took so kindly, that for three years he fed the man in his den. After three years the man stole out of the den, and returned back to Rome, was apprehended by his Master and condemned to be devoured by a Lion. It happened that this very Lion was designed to devour him; The Lion knows his old friend, and would not hurt him. The People wondered at it, the man was saved, and the Lion given to him, which he carried about with him in the streets of Rome. From whence came that motto, Hic est homo medicus leonis: hic est leo hospes hominis. Beloved in the Lord, the great God by the help of you, and the House of the Lords hath plucked many thorns out of our feet. O let us not now bring forth thorns and briers. Let not our hearts be dry and barren as the thorny ground. Let us not kick against God with our feet while be is plucking out the thorns that trouble us. Let us not be worse than the brute beasts. But if all this will not prevail, suffer me I beseech you to remind you under new expressions of what hath been before said, and to offer some new motives unto you.