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TESTIMONY OF REV. H. B. BROWNING. 79

comes from God who is the universal Giver. It must therefore impel us to give; it must prompt us to words of help and deeds of use. If we are not conscious of this impulse, it is because our life, although received from God, has become perverted in our reception of it. The more it retains of the character of its Divine original, the more must it impel us to act in a God-like way, and give. The Saviour's greatness and oneness with God was shown in this, among many other things, that He came ' not to be ministered unto, but to minister.' He was the greatest of all, because He was the servant of all. In seeking to resemble Him, we enter into harmony with the Divine purpose, which is that all may be blessed, and that they may realize their own blessedness in seeking to bless each other.

" We must, however, communicate to others for their sakes, and not merely to serve our own ends. While it is true that they who give are enriched, that they who teach learn, that they who help grow strong, that they who bless are blessed; yet if in giving we only think of our prospective gain, if in blessing we only think of the richer blessing we shall receive, the apparently unselfish act is really a deed of the most refined and intense selfishness. The selfish motive vitiates the efficacy of the seemingly unselfish act. By the universal law of reaction, that very act only

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