Providences

Let not fortune , which hath no name in Scripture , have any name in thy divinity . Let providence , not chance have the honour of thy acknowledgements , and be thy Oedipus in contingencies . Mark well the paths and winding ways thereof ; but be not too wise in the construction , or sudden in the application . The hand of providence writes often by abbreviatures , hieroglyphics , or short characters , which , like the laconism on the wall , are not made out but by a hint or key from that Spirit which indited them .

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