"Then SAMUEL took a Stone and Set it up, ... and called the Name of it
EBENEZER, saying, Hitherto the Lord hath Helped us."
Then follows the exordium, in which the preacher says the Thankful
Servants of God have used sometimes to erect monuments of stone as durable
tokens of their thankfulness:--
"Jacob did so; Joshua did so; and Samuel did so." "The Stone erected
by Samuel, with the name of Ebenezer, which is as much as to say, _A
Stone of Help_. I know not whether any thing might be _Writt_ upon it;
but I am sure, there is one thing to be now _Read_ upon it, by
ourselves, in the Text where we find it: Namely, this much,
"_That a People whom the God of Heaven hath Remarkably Helped, in
their Distresses ought Greatly and Gratefully to acknowledge, what_
=help= _of Heaven they have Received._
"Now, 'tis not my Design to lay the Scene of my Discourse, as far off
as _Bethcar_, the place where Samuel set up his Ebenezer. I am
immediately to Transfer it into the heart of _Boston_, a place where
the _Remarkable Help Received from Heaven_, by the People, does loudly
call for an Ebenezer. And I do not ask you, to change the Name of the
Town, into that of =Help stone=, as there is a Town in _England_ of
that Name, which may seem the English of =Ebenezer=; but my _Sermon_
shall be this Day your _Ebenezer_, if you will with a Favorable and
Profitable Attention Entertain it. May the Lord Jesus Christ, accept
me, and assist me now to _Glorify Him_, in the _Town_, where I drew my
First Sinful Breath. A _Town_, whereto I am under Great Obligations,
for the Precious Opportunities to _Glorify Him_, which I have quietly
enjoy'd therein, for NEAR EIGHTEEN years together. _O my Lord God,
Remember me, I pray thee_, and _strengthen me this once, to speak from
thee_, unto thy People.
"And now, Sirs, That I may set up an EBENEZER among you, there are
these Things to be inculcated."
"1. Let us Thankfully, and Agreeably, and Particularly, acknowledge
what Help we have received from the God of Heaven, in the years that
have rolled over us. While the Blessed Apostle Paul, was as it should
seem, yet short of being _Threescore_ years old, how affectionately
did he set an _Ebenezer_ with the Acknowledgment in Acts 26, 22.
_Having obtained Help of God, I continue to this day._ Our Town is now
_Threescore and Eight_ years old: and certainly 'tis Time for us, with
all possible affection to set up our _Ebenezer_, saying, Having
obtained Help from God, the Town is continued, until almost the Age of
Man is passed over it. The Town hath indeed Three Elder Sisters in
this Colony; but it hath wonderfully outgrown them all; and her
Mother, old Boston, in England also; Yea, within a Few Years, after
the first settlement it grew to be, _the Metropolis of the whole
English America_. Little was _this_ expected, by them that first
settled the town, when, for a while, Boston was proverbially called
_Lost Town_, for the mean and sad circumstances of it. But, O Boston,
it is because thou hast _Obtained help from God_." "There have been
several years wherein the Terrible Famine hath Terribly Stared the
Town in the Face. We have been brought sometimes unto the Last Meal in
the Barrel! But the fear'd Famine has always been kept off."