Page:The Emperor Marcus Antoninus - His Conversation with Himself.djvu/373

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Meditations, &c.
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Transgresses it is a Desertor. And under this Character we may range all those that are dissatisfied with the Administration of the World; Angry at what is past, and Uneasy about the Future : For these People were it in their Power would set aside that Justice which gives every one his Due, and break through the Orders of Providence.

XXVI. The Formation of the Fætus, is a great Subject for Contemplation: The first Principles of Life are extremely slender, and Mysterious; And yet Nature works them up into a strange increase of Bulk, Diversity, and Proportion. And after the Birth is over, the Infant is supported by throwing a little Nourishment down the Throat on't. And here the Force and Conduct of the Operation is extraordinary. For what can be more surprizing than to see such wonderful Effects from so Unpromising a Cause? To see Growth and Motion, and Strength and Beauty; all the Functions and Force, and Ornament of the Creature, sprout out of a little Pap, or Gruel? These things tho' they are wrought in the Dark , and we can't trace them with our Senses, no more than we can the Causes of Gravitation; For all this, our Understandings may reach a great way; and discover the

O
Miracles