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."
Anne Manning (17 February 1807 – 14 September 1879) was a British novelist. Born in London, England, Manning was an active writer during the Victorian age, having 51 works to her credit. Though antiquated in style, her writings were considered to have some literary charm and a delicate historical imagination.