Anne Manning 
Cherry & Violet A Tale of the Great Plague – Illustrated [EPUB ebook] 

Excerpt: "I wonder whether many People, on reviewing their past Lives, feel as I do on looking back on mine; that, had they had the ordering the outward Circumstances connected with them beforehand, such as Time, Place, Health, Sickness, Friends, Acquaintances, and such-like Conditions, they could not have arranged them half so well as they have been disposed for them. When I fall into a Muse on the Past, the Moments fly so swiftly that I am lost in Amazement when I find how the Time has slipped by while thus pleasantly employed. And yet many of the Arrangements which were made for me by a greater Wisdom than mine, were such as at the Time were far from agreeable to me; nay, were sometimes so repugnant to Flesh and Blood as to nourish rebellious Thoughts, and call forth Showers of Tears. And still the Process went on; as I now see, all for my Good."