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; we have cried out with the disciples, "We have not loaves enough to feed a tenth part of us!" but the feared famine has always been kept off; always we have had seasonable and sufficient sup plies after a surprizing manner sent in unto us: let the three last years in this thing most eminently proclaim the goodness of our heavenly Shepherd and Feeder. This has been the help of our God; because "his mercy endureth for ever!" The angels of death have often shot the arrows of death into the midst of the town; the small-pox has especially four times been a great plague upon us: how often have there been bills desiring prayers-for more than an hundred sick on one day in one of our assem· blies? in one twelve-month, about one thousand of our neighbours have one way or other been carried unto their long home: and yet we are, after all, many more than seven thousand souls of us at this hour living on the spot. Why is not a "Lord, have mercy upon us," written on the doors of our abandoned habitations? This hath been the help of our God, because "his mercy endureth for ever." Never was any town under the cope of heaven more liable to be laid in ASHES, either through the carelessness or through the wickedness of them that sleep in it. That such a combustible heap of contiguous houses yet stands, it may be called a standing miracle; it is not because "the watchman keeps the city; perhaps there may be too much cause of reflection in that thing, and of inspection too; no, "it is from thy watchful protection, O thou keeper of Boston, who neither slumbers nor sleeps." TEN TIMES has the fire made notable ruins among us, and our good servant been almost our master; but the ruins have mostly and quickly been rebuilt. I suppose that many more than a thousand houses are to be seen on this little piece of ground, all filled with the undeserved favours of God. Whence this preservation? This hath been the help of our God; because "his mercy endureth for ever!" But if ever this town saw a year of salvations, transcendently such was the last year unto us. A formidable French squadron hath not shot one bomb into the midst of thee, O thou munition of rocks! our streets have not run with blood and gore, and horrible devouring flames have not raged upon our substance: those are ignorant, and unthinking, and unthankful men, who do not own that we have narrowly escaped as dreadful things as Carthagena, or Newfoundland, have suffered. I am sure our more considerate friends beyond-sea were very suspicious, and well nigh despairing, that victorious enemies had swallowed up the town. But "thy soul is escaped, O Boston, as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers." Or, if you will be insensible of this, ye vain men, yet be sensible that an English squadron hath not brought among us the tremendous pestilence, under which a neighbouring plantation hath undergone prodigious desolations. Boston, 'tis a marvellous thing a plague has not laid thee desolate!

Our deliverance from our friends has been as full of astonishing mercy, as our deliverance from our foes. We read of a certain city in Isa. xix. 18, called, "The city of Destruction." Why so? some say, because delivered from destruction. If that be so, then hast thou been a city of destruction: or I will rather say, a city of salvation: and this be the help of God; because "his mercy endureth for ever." Shall I go on? I will. We have not had the bead of adversity and the water of affliction, like many other places. But yet all this while "our eyes have seen our teachers." Here are several "golden candlesticks" in the town. "Shining and burning lights" have illuminated them. There are gone to shine in an higher orb seven divines that were once the stars of this town, in the pastoral charge of it; besides many others, that for some years gave us transient influences. Churches flourishing with much love, and peace, and many "comforts of the Holy Spirit," have hitherto been our greatest glory. I wish that some sad eclipse do not come ere long upon this glory! The dispensations of the gospel were never enjoyed by any town with more liberty and purity for so long a while together. Our opportunities to draw near unto the Lord Jesus Christ in his ordinances, cannot be paralleled. Boston, thou hast been lifted up to heaven; there is not a town upon earth which, on some accounts, has more to answer for. Such, O such has been our help from our God, because "his mercy endureth for ever."

upon.

II. Let us acknowledge WHOSE help it is that we have received, and not "give the glory of our God unto another." Poorly helped had we been, I may tell you, if we had none but humane help all this while to depend The favours of our superiors we deny not; we forget not the instruments of our help. Nevertheless, this little outcast Zion shall, with my consent, engrave the name of no MAN upon her Ebenezer! It was well confessed in Psal. cviii. 12, "Vain is the help of man!" It was well counselled in Psal. cxlvi. 3, "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.”

Wherefore, first, let God in our Lord JESUS CHRIST have the glory of bestowing on us all the help that we have had. When the Spirit of God came upon a servant of his, he cried out unto David, in 1 Chron. xii. 18, "Thy God helpeth thee." This is the voice of God from heaven to Boston this day, "Thy God hath helped thee: thou hast by thy sin destroyed thy self, but in thy God hath been thy help." A great man once building an edifice, caused an inscription of this importance to be written on the gates of it: "Such a place planted me, such a place watered me, and Cæsar gave the increase." One that passed by, with a witty sarcasm, wrote under it, Hic Deus nihil fecit; i. e. "God, it seems, did nothing for this man." But the inscription upon our Ebenezer, owning what help this town hath had, shall say, "Our God hath done all that is done!" Say then, O helped BOSTON, say as in Psal. cxxi. 2, "My help is from the Lord which made heaven and earth." Say as in Psal. xciv. 17, "Unless the Lord had been

my help, my soul had quickly dwelt in silence." And boldly say, "Tis only because the Lord has been my helper, that earth and hell have never done all that they would unto me."

Let our Lord JESUS CHRIST be praised as our blessed helper! that stone which the foolish builders have refused, Oh! set up that stone; even that high rock: set him on high in our praises, and say, that "that is our Ebenezer." "Tis our Lord JESUS CHRIST, who in his infinite compassions for the town hath said, as in Isa. lxiii. 5, "I looked, and there was none to help; therefore my own arm hath brought salvation unto it." It is foretold concerning the idolatrous Roman Catholicks, that together with the Lord Jesus Christ, they shall worship other Mauzzim; that is to say, other protectors. Accordingly, all their towns ordinarily have singled out their protectors among the saints of heaven; such a saint is entitled unto the patronage of such a town among them, and such a saint for another: old BOSTON, by name, was but Saint Botolph's town. Whereas thou, O Boston, shalt have but one protector in heaven, and that is our Lord JESUS CHRIST. Oh! rejoice in him alone, and say, "the Lord is my fortress and my deliverer!" There was a song once made for a town, which in its distresses had been helped wonderously; and the first clause in that song, (you have it in Isa. xxvi. 1,) may be so rendered: "We have a strong town; salvation [or JESUS the Lord, whose name hath salvation in it] will appoint walls and bulwarks." Truly what help we have had we will sing, ""Tis our JESUS that hath appointed them." The old pagan towns were sometimes mighty solicitous to conceal the name of the particular god that they counted their protector, Ne ab hostibus Evocatus, aliò commigraret.* But I shall be far from doing my town any damage by publishing the name of its protector; no, let all mankind know, that the name of our protector is JESUS CHRIST: for "among the gods there is none like unto thee, O, LORD: nor is any help like unto thine: and there is no rock like to our God."

Yea, when we ascribe the name of helper unto our Lord JESUS CHRIST, let us also acknowledge that the name is not sufficiently expressive, emphat ical and significant. Lactantius of old blamed the heathen for giving the highest of their gods no higher a title than that of Jupiter, or Juvans pater, i. e. an helping father; and he says, Non intelligit Divina Beneficia, qui se a Deo tantummodo Juvari putat: (the kindnesses of God are not understood by that man who makes no more than an helper of him.) Such indeed is the penury of our language, that we cannot coin a more expressive name. Nevertheless, when we say, the Lord JESUS CHRIST hath been our helper, let us intend more than we express; "Lord, thou hast been all unto us." Secondly, Let the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ most explicitely have the glory of purchasing for us all our help. What was it that procured an Ebenezer for the people of God? We read in 2 Sam. vii. 9, "Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it a burnt-offering wholly unto

Lest, beguiled by the prayers and offerings of the enemy, he should take up a residence elsewhere.

the Lord; and Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel, and the Lord heard him." Shall I tell you? Our Lord Jesus Christ is that lamb of God; and he has been a lamb slain as a sacrifice; and he is a sacrifice pleadable not only for persons, but also for peoples that belong unto him. To teach us this evangelical and comfortable mystery, there was a sacrifice for the whole congregation prescribed in the Mosaic Pædagogy. "Tis notorious that the sins of this town have been many sins, and mighty sins; the "cry thereof hath gone up to heaven." If the Almighty God should from heaven rain down upon the town an horrible tempest of thuderbolts, as he did upon the cities "which he overthrew in his anger, and repented not," it would be no more than our unrepented`sins deserve. How comes it then to pass that we have had so much help from Heaven after all? Truly the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ has been pleaded for Boston, and therefore say, therefore it is that the town is not made a sacrifice to the vengeance of God. God sent help to the town that was the very heart and life of the land that he had a pity for: but why so? He said in Isa. xxxvii. 35, "I will defend this town, to save it for my servant David's sake." Has this town been defended? It has been for the sake of the beloved JESUS: therefore has the daughter of Boston shaken her head at you, O ye calamities that have been impending over her head. O, helped and happy town! thou hast had those believers in the midst of thee, that have pleaded this with the great God: "Ah! Lord, thou hast been more honoured by the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ, than thou couldst be honoured by overwhelming this town with all the plagues of thy just indignation. If thou wilt spare, and feed, and keep, and help this poor town, the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ shall be owned as the prize of all our help." "Tis this that hath procured us all our help: 'tis this that must have all our praise. Thirdly, Let the Lord be in a special manner glorified for the ministry of his good angels, in that help that has been ministered unto us. A Jacob, lying on a stone, saw the angels of God helping him. We are setting up an Ebenezer; but when we lay our heads and our thoughts upon the stone, let us then see, the angels of God have helped us. When Macedonia was to have some help from God, an angel, whom the apostle in Acts xvi. 9, saw habited like a man of Macedonia, was a mean of its being brought unto them. There is abundant cause to think that every town in which the Lord Jesus Christ is worshipped, hath an angel to watch over it. The primitive Christians were perswaded from the scriptures of truth to make no doubt of this, Quòd per Civitates distribute sunt Angelorum præfecturæ.* When the capital town of Judea was rescued from an invasion, we read in 2 Kings xix. 35, "The angel of the Lord WENT OUT, and smote the camp of the Assyrians." It should seem there was an angel which did reside in, and preside over the town, who went out for that amazing exploit. And is it not likely, that the angel of the Lord WENT OUT for to smite

That angel-guards were stationed along the various cities where they dwelt.

the fleet of the Assyrians with a sickness, which the last summer hindered their invading of this town? The angel of BOSTON was concerned for it! Why have not the destroyers broke in upon us, to prey upon us with sore destruction? 'Tis because we have had a wall of fire about us; that is to say, a guard of angels; those flames of fire have been as a wall unto us. It was an angel that helped a Daniel when the lions would else have swallowed him up. It was an angel that helped a Lot out of the fires that were coming to consume his habitation. It was an angel that helped an Elias to meat when he wanted it. They were angels that helped the whole people of God in the wilderness to their daily bread; their manna was angel's food: and is it nothing that such angels have done for this town, think you? Oh! think not so. Indeed, if we should go to thank the angels for doing these things, they would zealously say, "See thou do it not!" But if we thank their Lord and ours for his employing them to do these things, it will exceedingly gratifie them. Wherefore, "Bless ye the Lord, ye his angels; and bless the Lord, O my town, for those his angels." III. Let the help which we have hitherto had from our God, encourage us to hope in him for MORE HELP hereafter as the matter may require. The help that God had given to his people of old was commemorated, as with monumental pillars, conveying down the remembrance of it unto their children. And what for? We are told in Psal. lxxviii. 7, "That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God." I am not willing to say how much this town may be threatned, even with an utter extirpation. But this I will say, the motto upon all our Ebenezers is, HOPE IN GOD! HOPE IN GOD! The use of the former help that we have had from God, should be an hope for future help from him, that is "a present help in the time of trouble." As in the three first verses of the eighty-fifth Psalm, six times over there occurs, "Thou hast,” “Thou hast," all to usher in this, "Therefore thou WILT still do so," O let our faith proceed in that way of arguing in 2 Cor. i. 10, "The Lord hath delivered, and he doth deliver, and in him we trust that he will still deliver." We are to-day writing, "Hitherto the Lord hath helped us;" let us write under it, "And we hope the Lord has more help for us in the time of need!" It may be some are purposing suddenly and hastily to leave the town through their fears of the straits that may come upon it. But I would not have you be too sudden and hasty in your purposes, as too many have been unto their after-sorrow. There was a time when people were so discouraged about a subsistence in the principal town of the Jews, that they talked of plucking up stakes, and flying away; but the minister of God came to them, (and so do I to you this day!) saying, in Isa. xxx. 7, "I cried concerning this, their strength is to sit still!" Boston was no sooner come to some consistence threescore years ago, but the people found themselves plunged into a sad non-plus what way to take for a subsistence. God then immediately put them into a way, and "hitherto the Lord has