“All that appears most casuall to us”: Fortune, Compassion, and Reason in Lucy Hutchinson’s Exploratory Providentialism

In a project so committed to locating God’s providential care as Lucy Hutchinson’s Memoir of the Life of Colonel Hutchinson, her use of fortune seems out of place. This article argues, however, that this term characterizes Hutchinson’s engagement with a wide-ranging intellectual culture and with her experience of adversity. Her terminology represents an exploratory and charitable attempt to fathom the workings of providence.