Seneca

"'Why do many adversities come to good men?' No evil can befall a good man; opposites do not mingle. Just as the countless rivers, the vast fall of rain from the sky, and the huge volume of mineral springs do not change the taste of the sea, do not even modify it, so the assaults of adversity do not weaken the spirit of a brave man. It always maintains its poise, and it gives its own colour to everything that happens; for it is mightier than all external things. And yet I do not mean to say that the brave man is insensible to these, but that he overcomes them, and being in all else unmoved and calm rises to meet whatever assails him. All his adversities he counts mere training. Who, moreover, if he is a man and intent upon the right, is not eager for reasonable toil and ready for duties accompanied by danger? To what energetic man is not idleness a punishment? Wrestlers, who make strength of body their chief concern, we see pitting themselves against none but the strongest, and they require of those who are preparing them for the arena that they use against them all their strength; they submit to blows and hurts, and if they do not find their match in single opponents, they engage with several at a time. Without an adversary, prowess shrivels. We see how great and how efficient it really is, only when it shows by endurance what it is capable of. Be assured that good men ought to act likewise; they should not shrink from hardships and difficulties, nor complain against fate; they should take in good part whatever happens, and should turn it to good. Not what you endure, but how you endure, is important."

I think this fits in well with Emerson's "Compensation" and gives maybe a reason why all things end up returning to their natural order. Seneca says that "no evil can befall a good man"; not that seemingly difficult things do not happen to them but because of how good men react to something that may seem bad changes that adversity to a learning and growing experience. This really is common sense. We see this at work in nature and in society. The muscle is torn in order to grow stronger, seperation from loved ones makes the bonds of love tighter. At the same time a lack of judgmenet can turn even minor ordeals into crisis and weaken us if we are not strong.