+I. Is evident in manifold Christian virtues.+--1. _Virtues describing a general state of heart._ "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace" (ver. 22). _Love_ is foremost of the group of Christian graces, and gives a nameless charm to all the rest, for there is an element of love in all true goodness. Love derives its power from being in the first place, love to God. When the soul centres its affection in God through Christ all its outgoings are influenced and regulated accordingly. _Joy_ is the product of love. A philosophy or religion which has no room for the joy and pleasure of man is as little conversant with the wants of man as with the will of God. "Joy in the Lord quickens and elevates, while it cleanses all other emotions. It gives a new glow to life. It sheds a Diviner meaning, a brighter aspect, over the common face of earth and sky. Joy is the beaming countenance, the elastic step, the singing voice, of Christian goodness." _Peace_ is the holy calm breathed into the soul by a pardoning God. It is the gift of Christ, giving rest to the soul in the midst of external agitations. "It is a settled quiet of the heart, a deep, brooding mystery that 'passeth all understanding,' the stillness of eternity entering the spirit, the Sabbath of God. It is the calm, unruffled brow, the poised and even temper which Christian goodness wears." 2. _Virtues exercised in the Christian's intercourse with his neighbour._--"Longsuffering, gentleness, goodness." Charity suffereth long. The heart at peace with God has patience with men. _Longsuffering_ is the patient magnanimity of Christian goodness, the broad shoulders on which it "beareth all things." _Gentleness_ (or kindness, as the word is more frequently and better rendered) resembles longsuffering in finding its chief objects in the evil and unthankful. But while the latter is passive and self-contained, kindness is an active, busy virtue. It is the thoughtful insight, the delicate tact, the gentle ministering hand of charity. Linked with kindness comes _goodness,_ which is its other self, differing from it as only twin sisters may, each fairer for the beauty of the other. Goodness is perhaps more affluent, more catholic in its bounty; kindness more delicate and discriminating. Goodness is the honest, generous face, the open hand of charity (_Findlay_).