Reliquiæ Baxterianæ, or, Mr. Richard Baxters narrative of the most memorable passages of his…

29. And it much furthered my Success, that I stayed still in this one Place, (near Two Years before the Wars, and above Fourteen Years after); for he that removeth oft from Place to Place, may sow good Seed in many Places; but is not like to see much Fruit in any, unless some other skilful Hand shall follow him to water it: It was a great Advantage to me, to have almost all the Religious People of the Place, of my own Instructing and Informing; and that they were not formed into erroneous and factious Principles before; and that I stayed to see them grown up to some Confirmedness and Maturity.

30. Lastly, Our Successes were enlarged beyond our own Congregations, by the Lectures kept up round about: To divers of them I went as oft as I was able; and the Neighbour Ministers oftener than I; especially Mr. Oasland of Bewdley, who having a strong Body, a zealous Spirit, and an earnest Utterance, went up and down Preaching from Place to Place, with great Acceptance and Success. But this Business also we contrived to be universally and orderly managed: For besides the Lectures set up on Week-days fixedly in several Places, we studied how to have it extend to every Place in the County that had need. For you must understand that when the Parliament purged the Ministry, they cast out the grosser sort of insufficient and scandalous ones, as gross Drunkards, and such like; and also some few Civil Men that had assisted in the Wars against the Parliament, or set up bowing to Altars, and such Innovations: But they had left in near one half the Ministers, that were not good enough to do much Service, nor bad enough to be cast out as utterly intolerable: These were a company of Poor weak Preachers, that had no great Skill in Divinity, nor Zeal for Godliness; but preached weakly that which is True, and lived in no gross notorious Sin: These Men were not cast out, but yet their People greatly needed help; for their dark sleepy Preaching did but little Good: Therefore we resolved that some of the abler Ministers should often voluntarily help them; but all the Care was how to do it without offending them: And it fell out seasonably, that the Londoners of that County at their yearly Feast, did collect about 30l. and send it me (by that worthy Man, Mr. Thomas Stanley of Bread-street) to set up a Lecture for that Year: Whereupon, we covered all our Designs under the Name of the Londoners Lecture, which took off the Offence: And we chose four worthy Men, Mr. And. Tristram, Mr. Hen. Oasland, Mr. Tho. Baldwin, and Mr. Jos. Treble (who only now conformeth) who undertook to go each Man his Day, once a Month, which was every Lord's Day between the four, and to preach at those Places which had most need, twice on a Lord's Day; but to avoid all ill Consequents and Offence, they were sometimes to go to abler Mens Congregations, and wherever they came to say somewhat always to draw the People to the Honour and special Regard of their own Pastors;