My labours at the Tabernacle were resumed on Sunday, July 6th. During this visit, the congregations were very encouraging; and the people were so earnest in requesting me not to return to London at the end of the six weeks’ vacation, that, after consulting with my tutors, I agreed to remain till the legal opinion was given, which would determine whether the pulpit and the place of worship were under the control of the church, or of the Trustees. That opinion did not arrive till the fourteenth of December. It was the sabbath day. On going to the Tabernacle, I was informed that the decision was in favour of the Trustees; and as I had been invited, not by them, but by the church and congregation, I had therefore no legal right to continue to occupy the pulpit. I had prepared two sermons for the day. The text in the morning was, 2 Corinthians iii, 18: “We all, with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” At the close of the service, I informed the congregation of the legal decision which had been given by the Barrister to whom the question had been referred, and I gave notice that my last sermon in the Tabernacle would be preached in the evening. A very large congregation assembled, and much excitement and perplexity prevailed. My text was, Psalm xxx, 5: “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” That text, it was often said afterwards, built the new chapel. The people felt as if the language was prophetic; and amidst their night of weeping, they began to look forward to the morning joy. My own mind was, however, rather relieved by a decision which seemed to open the way for my retirement from Norwich. I had received the most affectionate kindness from the people; they were evidently exceedingly desirous to secure me as their minister; and they were willing to make any sacrifices to induce my continuance. But the prospect of having to build a chapel; to re-organize the church; to instruct and train up the people in congregational principles; to originate Sunday Schools, and other institutions; to control and calm the feelings which had been excited by the collision with the Trustees of the Tabernacle; and other circumstances, led me to shrink from an undertaking for which I felt I was incapable, owing to my youth and inexperience. The invitation to become their minister, which was given me, and which was signed by four hundred persons, was therefore declined on the second of January, 1818; and I took my place in the coach, to return to London, on my way to Kidderminster, where I had been requested to supply. But on the day of my departure, a deputation from the people waited on me, and pressed upon me the invitation with such affectionate earnestness, and with such assurances respecting the building of a new chapel, that I felt the appeal to be irresistible, and I promised to lay the whole matter