Note 1041 — AN ESSAY ON MAN, IN FOUR EPISTLES (continued 3)
Reading edition
First edition:
Blame we for this the wise Almighty Cause; No, 'tis replied, he acts by gen'ral laws.
The government by general laws, we are told, has "a few exceptions," which must either refer to the scripture miracles, which Pope did not believe when he wrote the Essay on Man, or to the doctrine of a special providence, which he opposes in the fourth epistle.