THE VOICE OF THANKSGIVING: A SELECTION OF PASSAGES, In Prose and Verse, FROM VARIOUS CHRISTIAN AUTHORS. BY THE COMPILER OF "THE INVALID'S OWN BOOK." "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto LONDON: KNIGHT & SON, CLERKENWELL CLOSE. SOLD ALSO BY D. DALBY, MICKLEGATE, YORK. PREFACE. THE religion of the Bible is pre-eminently that which can alone satisfy the wants and aspirations of an immortal spirit. Endowed with powers and capabilities which never meet with anything in the world to satisfy their requirements, or adapted to appease the insatiable craving for something higher, the wearied spirit is invited to come to Jesus, and there find rest. Believing the record that the gift of God is eternal life, and that this life is in His Son, no sooner does the trembling contrite heart rely upon the assurance that God "is well-pleased for His righteousness' sake," than the effect consequent upon the reception of the glad tidings follows, and the soul is filled with peace and joy. This joy remains, and will increase and be intensified throughout the countless ages of eternity. When the love of God is shed abroad in the heart, it creates love to Him in return, and gratitude spontaneously arises as the natural result. One of the first inquiries of a renewed spirit is, "What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits?" If by a cheerful and satisfied demeanour, under the varied dispensations of Providence, we can prove that the religion of Jesus is the proper and only antidote to the sorrows and trials consequent upon the introduction of sin into our world, we shall not seek in vain thus to glorify God. We would affectionately urge the disappointed, the desolate, the despondent, to come and taste by experience the blessedness of those who have found the true source of present and enduring joy. Be not deterred by the mistaken notion that religion is of a gloomy and austere nature. In the hope of attracting some who have hitherto been repelled by this false idea from embracing it, these pages have been selected as exemplifying the bright and cheering aspect of true piety. The compiler acknowledges with gratitude the comfort she has derived from those Christian authors whose works have furnished these materials; and should she thereby cause some of the depressed and sorrowing of God's own children who are "in heaviness through manifold temptations" to rise above the pressure of trial, and to be enabled to "praise Him for |