Page:The Emperor Marcus Antoninus - His Conversation with Himself.djvu/374

 194 Miracles of Providence tho' not the Manner of their performance.

XXVII. You'l do well to remember that the World is just as it was formerly, and will go on at the same rate, when you are Dead and gone. If you either Dip into History, or recollect your own Memory, you'l perceive the Scenes of Life strangly Uniform , and nothing but the Old Plays reviv'd. Take a view of the Courts of Adrian, Antoninus Pius, of Philip of Macedon or Crœsus ; And you'l find the Grimace, and Entertainment the same, only the Actors are different.

XXVIII. He that struggles with his Fortune, and makes an Affliction on't, is much like a Hog that Kicks, and Cries out when his Throat is cutting : And he that Mourns privately over himself when he is Sick, is not much better. We should consider that we are tyed to the Chains of Fate, that all Accidents are inevitable , that none but Rational Creatures have the privilege of Moving Freely , and making Necessity a Choice: All other Things are forc'd onward , and Drag'd along to their Doom.

XXIX. Consider the satisfactions of Life singly, and examine them as they come up ; And then ask your self, if Death is such a terrible Bugbear in taking them from you ? Rh