96 BAXTER'S POEMS. Me and my healing grace they will not have; They ~ll not endure that mercy should them save. They hate the light that would their sin display·, And would direct them in ·the holy way: Though they fear Hell, they always fear much more The loss of honour, pleasure, health, or store. No fear of Hell will take their idol down, And make them seek .first the eternal crown. The fear of God is wisdom's true beginning ; It calls to duty, and preserves from sinning : God must be fear'd, as one that can destroy The soul, and shut it out of endlessjoy. The fear of God's the just man's character . · They fear not God indeed that wicked are. God W()uld be fear' d as a consuming fire: . This is no sin but what he doth require. Love may lie hidden as a covered seed: When fear in troubling passion doth exceed. If angry parents make the child afraid, He feels not love, till passion be allay'd. Excessive fear may hinder active love, ., And yet the vital l;labit not remove: When God's rebukes and frowns the soul affright, It may dispose his children unto flight. Where love is true, some hatred may arise, When terrors and despair the soul surprise. A loving child will not his father own, \Vhen through mistake or distance he ts unknown. 'l'he pleasing part of love cannot appear, Under prevailing grief, and too much fear: Until the soul be calcined, and these abate, Love is oppress'd, and seemeth turn'd to hate.
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