It was their first care to exercise the minds of their children, in all the important moral and religious duties; to be careful in due time to regulate their natural propensities; to render their dispositions mild and tractable; to inspire them with the love, respect, and implicit obedience due to parents, blended with a genuine affection for relations and friends. "To endeavour to form their first ideas on principles of rectitude, being conscious of the infinite importance of first impressions, and beginning early to adhere to a proper system of education, that was principally the result of their own reflections and particular observations." Their children were assembled annually to celebrate the birthday of their father, together with other social friends and acquaintances, consisting chiefly of those whose beneficent feelings were in accordance with their own, in testifying their gratitude to their Creator for daily benefits, blended with a thankful cheerfulness, which is the offspring of moral excellence. [_A&M_ (Melissa speaking): once a year my father celebrates his birth day....] O, Thou enthroned where perfect day, In brightest beams of glory, play Around thy radiant throne; Where angels strike celestial lyres, And seraphs glow with sacred fires, Address'd to thee alone. Still may thy providential care, With blessings crown the circling year, Each human ill restrain: O, may thy truth inspire my tongue, And flow through all my varying song, And shine in every strain. [Cunningham, "Ode to the New Year, 1769" (here from _Poems on various subjects..._, ed. Thomas Tomkins 1780), stz. 5-6: O thou! alike where perfect day In bright refulgent glories play, Around thy awful throne! When seraphs glow with sacred fires, When angels tune celestial lyres, To hymn thy praise alone! Still may thy providential care With blessings crown the rising year! Impending ills restrain! Thy wisdom guide my youthful muse! Thy sacred eloquence diffuse, And consecrate my strain!] Give me the calm, the soft serene, Of summer, when it glads the scene, And scatters peace around; Bless'd image of the happy soul. That does the heav'n-born mind control, While conscious joys abound. That this may be my bounteous share, Ascends my ever constant prayer To Thee, all-perfect Mind! O, aid me in the gen'rous strife, Through each inconstant scene of life, To all thy ways resign'd. [same, stz. 10-11: Unlike its placid form, serene, When Zephyr breathing o'er the scene, Sheds balmy peace around; Bless'd emblem of the conquering soul, Whose every passion knows controul, While conscious joys abound!