The Augustan Reprint Society

PAMELA CENSURED

(1741)

Introduction by

Charles Batten, Jr.

Publication Number 175

WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK MEMORIAL LIBRARY
University of California, Los Angeles
1976

GENERAL EDITORS

ADVISORY EDITORS

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY

[Pg i]

INTRODUCTION

The publication of Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded on 6 November 1740 occasioned the kind of immediate and hyperbolic praise which would have turned the head of an author less vain than Richardson. Proclaimed by Aaron Hill as being "the Soul of Religion," and by Knightley Chetwood as the book next to the Bible which ought to be saved "if all the Books in England were to be burnt," Pamela seemed certain of universal acclaim, especially when the Reverend Benjamin Slocock praised it extravagantly from the pulpit of St. Saviour's in Southwark within two months of its initial printing. Even the "Objections" voiced by several correspondents and published at the beginning of the second edition of Pamela (14 February 1741) seemed relatively inconsequential when weighed against the Gentleman's Magazine's assertion in January 1741 that every Londoner with the slightest curiosity was reading Pamela.[1]

Literary and moral opposition to Pamela gradually began to mount, however. April 1741 saw the publication of the first and perhaps most perceptive attacks on Richardson's novel: An Apology for the Life of Mrs. Shamela Andrews appeared on 2 April, followed by Pamela Censured: In a Letter to the Editor some twenty-three days later. While we now feel certain that Henry Fielding wrote Shamela, the author of Pamela Censured has eluded us.[2] Though both works attack Pamela on moral grounds and incidentally make unflattering comments about Colley Cibber, their literary methods differ so greatly that it is impossible to tell whether or not Shamela influenced Pamela Censured to any extent.

Fielding's parody is too well known to be described in detail here. Though his sophisticated wit lashes out in a number of directions, he attacks Pamela on primarily two fronts: in prefatory letters he assails those who would praise Richardson's novel for its moral lessons, while in the body of Shamela he burlesques the psychological motivations of Pamela herself, showing that she is motivated by [Pg ii]mercenary "vartue" rather than angelic virtue. In spite of its hasty composition, Shamela clearly displays a kind of literary charm and insight that was soon to characterize Joseph Andrews and Tom Jones.

Because it lacks Fielding's wit, Pamela Censured is now almost forgotten even though it elicited an even stronger response than Shamela from some of Richardson's defenders and detractors. The "Introduction" to Pamela's Conduct in High Life (1741), for instance, airily dismisses Shamela's "low Humour adapted to the Standard of a petit Maitre's Capacity" which has been applauded only "among the Weak and Vicious." By contrast, the same work devotes an entire four pages to answering the various charges levelled by Pamela Censured after first attacking its author for giving readers "such an Idea of his own vicious Inclination, that it would not ... wrong him to think the Shrieks of a Woman in Labour would excite his Passions, and the Agonies of a dying Woman enflame his Blood, and stimulate him to commit a Rape." Aaron Hill, who had apparently ignored the publication of Shamela, angrily conveyed to Richardson a rumor that Pamela Censured was a bookseller's contrivance written in order to promote sales among readers with prurient interests. (Richardson, distressed over such a suggestion, emphatically wrote "Quite mistaken!" in the margin of Hill's letter.) But if this stratagem was not employed to boost sales in England, it perhaps was used across the Channel, where Pamela Censured, under the title Pamela, Zedelyk Beoordeeld, appeared in Holland some months before a complete Dutch translation of Richardson's novel was ever published.[3]

To Richardson's contemporaries, Pamela Censured must consequently have seemed a much more serious attack than Shamela. The humor of Fielding's parody might be misinterpreted or at least dismissed as "low"; in Pamela Censured, the rather personal attack on the author of Pamela and the precise censure of specific passages could not, however, be misconstrued or ignored. Moreover, the critical principle behind Pamela Censured appears quite sound, at least on its most simple level: Pamela is bad because it violates what might be called a literary "truth in labeling" law. Casting himself in the role of "consumer advocate," the author of Pamela Censured systematically attempts to show that Pamela fails to live up to the advertisement on its title page:[Pg iii]

In applying this test to Pamela, the author of Pamela Censured displays a curious mixture of naiveté and sophistication. His first attack involves a silly and perhaps consciously dishonest misreading of the words "Now first Published" on Pamela's title page. While this phrase clearly means that Pamela's letters are now being published for the first time, Pamela Censured attacks Pamela for claiming to be the first work ever aimed at cultivating "the Principles of VIRTUE and RELIGION in the Minds of the YOUTH of BOTH SEXES." When Pamela Censured later assails Pamela for not telling a true story, as the title page advertises, it naively fails to understand that by the time of Pamela's publication the guise of telling a true story had virtually become a fictional convention.

But when Pamela Censured considers the implications of Pamela's fictionality, it raises two valid literary problems, treating the first in a cursory fashion and devoting to the second most of its space and attention. If, as Pamela Censured first of all asserts, the "editor" of Pamela is really the author, then all of the prefatory material in Pamela must be seen as proof of the author's immorality: he is a man consumed by vanity. Secondly, this author must be convicted on even more serious moral grounds: his fiction instructs readers to sin and enflames those passions which he, as a moral man, should extinguish. Not only is this a clear moral flaw in the author and in his book, but it also blatantly contradicts the promises made on the title page.

In attacking Pamela's morality, Pamela Censured raises a problem inherent in virtually all narrative fiction: stories inevitably lead some readers to imitate the vicious characters[Pg iv] rather than the virtuous ones, in spite of any moral statements made by the author or any punishments meted out at the end of the story. Even in "forbidding a silly ostler to grease the horse's teeth," as Alithea says in The Country Wife (III, i), one may very easily teach him "to do't." Such concerns, of course, are not new. From Plato and Horace to the Neo-Humanists of the twentieth century, critics have dwelled in varying degrees on the moral effects of literature. The eighteenth century, reacting against the supposed immorality of the Restoration, often emphasized the utile, losing sight of the dulce in its criticism. Pamela Censured in its moral approach bears a striking similarity to Jeremy Collier's Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage (1698): both virtually try to bludgeon to death literary works for inciting immoral actions. In one respect, however, A Short View exercises a bit more control than does Pamela Censured. While Collier refuses to quote directly from the offensive literature, affirming that his intention is "rather to kill the Root than Transplant it," the author of Pamela Censured meticulously provides his readers with a compendium of the so-called dirty parts of Pamela. Such attention to the morality of literature, moreover, may easily backfire. The anonymous author of A Vindication of the Stage (1698) concludes that Collier's "dwelling so long on the Subject of Debauchery, argues something of Delight and Pleasure in the Case." Likewise, the author of Pamela's Conduct in High Life sees the treatment of sexual immodesty in Pamela Censured as evidence of "how much of the Goat" there is in the author's "Constitution."[4]

More importantly, however, Pamela Censured—as the first sustained criticism of what is probably the first English novel—amasses much of the moral ammunition which was to be fired at realistic novels during the eighteenth century. Echoes of Pamela Censured may, for instance, be heard in Clara Reeve's Progress of Romance (1785), where Hortensia comments that in reading, "The seeds of vice and folly are sown in the heart,—the passions are awakened,—false expectations are raised.—A young woman is taught to expect adventures and intrigues." Euphrasia, who expresses Clara Reeve's attitudes throughout the work, qualifies this statement, pointing out that these ill effects come from reading novels, but not romances.[5] Indeed, romances do not mislead readers precisely[Pg v] because they are so removed from real life. Moreover, romances morally instruct readers without hazarding the pitfalls inherent in novels. Dr. John Gregory's Comparative View (1765), for instance, concludes that:

Novels tend to "inflame the Passions and corrupt the Heart" of the reader because they treat real life with all its sordid concerns: sex, social status, pride, money, and the like. If the novel describes such matters in a realistic fashion, "warm scenes" will inevitably creep into it. As Pamela Censured complains, men are inflamed by the description of a woman's body, especially when she seems about to be ravished; women are corrupted into believing they can seduce a man into a lucrative marriage without any moral or physical danger. Novels, moreover, are most likely to inflame and corrupt young readers, who lack experience and who are frequently ruled by their passions.[7]

To a moral man like Richardson, the criticisms in Pamela Censured must have seemed painfully serious. The pamphlet virtually proclaims his novel a total failure by showing that it tends "to excite Lasciviousness"—not "the Principles of VIRTUE and RELIGION"—among its readers. In addition, Pamela is especially pernicious since its title page advertises that it is written for the "YOUTH of BOTH SEXES," precisely those[Pg vi] people who—according to Pamela Censured—must not read this book. Pamela Censured concludes with an appeal to the author of Pamela to emend or strike out entirely the offending passages from his novel.

Richardson's revisions bear witness to the seriousness with which he took such criticism. For the fifth edition (22 September, 1741), he toned down the extravagant praises in the introductory letters, and for the sixth edition (7 December 1741), he entirely omitted these letters, substituting in their place a table of contents. The "warm scenes" furthermore gradually began to loose their warmth. In the fifth edition, Pamela now lies face down on the floor while Mr. B peeks through the keyhole (Letter XV). Pamela Censured had attacked the original passage for exciting "Passions of Desire" by picturing Pamela stretched out on the floor, presumably having collapsed on her back (p. 31). Richardson's change indicates more about his sense of decorum and his attention to Pamela Censured than about his ignorance—as Eaves and Kimpel imply—concerning sexual perversions.[8]

By the time Richardson's carefully corrected fourteenth edition appeared in 1801, even more changes had crept into those passages which Pamela Censured found particularly objectionable. Mr. B no longer offers "to take" Pamela "on his Knee, with some Force"; he now more modestly lifts her up and offers "to set" her on his knee, without any mention of force (Letter XV). While Mr. B originally "by Force Kissed" Pamela's "Neck and Lips," he now simply kisses Pamela—no portion of her anatomy mentioned—while she struggles against him (Letter XV). Likewise, instead of passionately putting his hand in Pamela's bosom, Mr. B in the revised version merely tries to kiss her neck (Letter XV) or continues holding her in his arms (Letter XXV). Because of her lover's more modest approach in Letter XXV, Pamela no longer breaks out "in a cold clammy sweat." Pamela's reasons for not succumbing to Mr. B's advances (Letter XIX), which Pamela Censured found morally shoddy, are clarified somewhat by the inclusion of a new moralizing passage concerning her relation to Mr. B:

To make Pamela's moral purity even clearer, Richardson causes tears to appear in Mrs. Jervis's eyes as she hears Pamela's virtuous protestations. Though the reader originally watches Pamela pull off her stays and "stockens," these details are now omitted (Letter XXV). Mr. B's clothing loses some of its extravagance, his dressing gown no longer being silver (Letter XXV) and his waistcoat no longer trimmed in gold (Letter XXVII). Moreover, Mr. B exercises a bit more restraint (or at least Pamela's descriptions seem a bit less ambiguous): while in the first edition he comes to Pamela's bed, in the later version he simply approaches her "bed-side" (Letter XV). For the fourteenth edition, Richardson omits the "obscene ... double Entendre" in which Mr. B wishes he could have Pamela "as Quick another Way" (Letter XXVII). In an almost passive fashion, Mr. B releases Pamela from his clutches, "loosing his arms with an air," while in the original version he obviously keeps a passionate hold on her (Saturday Morning [37th day of confinement]). During Mr. B's last attempt at rape, Pamela no longer offers up her prayers "all undrest" (though she does have her underclothes in her hand), and Mr. B no longer approaches her bed breathing "all quick and short." Once the attempted rape is over and Pamela awakens from her faint, she (in the revised version) does not speculate concerning "the Liberties taken with her in her deplorable State" (Tuesday Night [40th day of confinement]). Finally, Pamela is now less brazen when led by Mr. B into the alcove where he proclaims his love. She now prudently considers that she can safely go there for two reasons: the alcove has "a passage through it" and Mr. B had already led her there "once without stopping" (Wednesday Morning [41st day of confinement]).[9]

While Richardson's revisions may seem extensive, they in no respect remove or change all of the objectionable passages that Pamela Censured so severely criticizes. A considerable amount of hanky-panky remains in the last version of Pamela.[Pg viii] Mr. B, for instance, still tries to examine Pamela "to her under Petticoat" (Letter XXIV), and he even gets to grope—though only once—for her breasts (Tuesday Night [40th day of confinement]). It should not be surprising, however, that Richardson failed to achieve the "successful" expurgations found in Victorian bowdlerizations of his novel. While he undoubtedly tried to clean up his descriptions, Richardson nevertheless had to keep in mind his novel's artistic integrity (something the bowdlerizers did not do). In order to show the stages through which a virtuous young woman must realistically pass when tempted by a physically attractive, though morally reprehensible young man, Richardson had to describe attempted rapes and their effects. In so doing, he undoubtedly hoped his readers would keep in mind the morally unambiguous end of his novel (which, incidentally, Pamela Censured virtually ignores). Some "warm scenes," as a consequence, seem necessary in this novel, and to remove all of them would, in effect, change Pamela into something radically different, namely a romance.

Though most of the attack in Pamela Censured simply reflects the author's prejudice against the sexual implications of realistic descriptions, the pamphlet occasionally alludes to a further moral problem, one which has bothered readers since the time of Fielding. "Instead of being artless and innocent," Pamela seems to have "as much Knowledge of the Arts of the Town, as if she had been born and bred in Covent Garden" (pp. 21-22). As a consequence, she appears "mighty skillful" (p. 26) in her dealings with Mr. B. In spite of these hints, Pamela Censured stops short of concluding—as Shamela does—that Pamela is motivated by an immoral desire to trap Mr. B into marriage rather than by an overwhelming desire to maintain her virtue at any cost. Perhaps the author of Pamela Censured contemplated this moral ambiguity as the subject of his projected "Second Epistle" (p. 64), a work which seems never to have appeared in print, if indeed it was ever written.

Pamela Censured, nevertheless, casually makes a provocative comparison which, if developed, might easily have thrown light on the artistic reasons behind Pamela's morally questionable actions. In its opening pages, Pamela Censured indicates that Pamela, at least in its title, is less "modest" than Chevalier de Mouhy's La Paysanne parvenue (1735-37), published in[Pg ix] English as The Fortunate Country Maid. Being the Entertaining Memoirs of the Present Celebrated Marchioness of L—— V——: Who from a Cottage, through a Great Variety of Diverting Adventures, Became a Lady of the First Quality in the Court of France (1741). One can only wish that Pamela Censured had developed its comparison in a thorough and sophisticated fashion, indicating the moral implications of the differences between these two stories.

The Fortunate Country Maid, first of all, bears a striking resemblance to Pamela: in both works the heroines, almost identical in social position, face similar trials and ultimately are rewarded in the same fashion. A brief description of the plot of The Fortunate Country Maid should adequately indicate these similarities to anyone already familiar with Pamela. Jenny, the heroine of The Fortunate Country Maid, comes from the lower social ranks, her father a common woodcutter in the forest of Fountainbleau. The young Marquis of L—— V——, son of Jenny's godfather, singles her out for his special attention because of her beauty and charm. Though conscious of the social distinctions which bar her marriage to the Marquis, Jenny nonetheless falls in love with him, all the while uneasy that she might be "ruined." Her fears indeed are not ill-founded. After learning social amenities in the household of the Countess of N——, her godmother, Jenny embarks on a series of trials, including an attempted rape, an offer to be set up as a kept woman, threats of an arranged marriage, and even proposals for a clandestine wedding. Held a virtual prisoner, Jenny ponders the advisability of escape; ultimately she decides that it would be better to forfeit her life rather than loose her reputation. One of her last conflicts involves a menacing Swiss soldier who tries to take her into his custody. When the Marquis appears to be on the point of death, Jenny clearly recognizes the genuine depth of her love for him. At the conclusion of the story, Jenny and the Marquis are married, the Marquis' father finally accepting this unconventional alliance only after having been convinced of Jenny's virtue. Everyone seems to live happily ever after, including Jenny's parents, who move from their cottage to the Estate de F—— A——, property which they will one day own. This happiness, however, is tempered somewhat by the realization that Jenny and the Marquis must carefully justify their marriage to the society in which they live.[Pg x]

It is tempting, because of the obvious similarities between these two works, to suggest that Richardson knew and was influenced by The Fortunate Country Maid. On the other hand we perhaps should not doubt Richardson's basic honesty when he says "I am not acquainted in the least with the French Language or Writers: And that it was Chance and not Skill or Learning, that made me fall into this way of Scribbling."[10] In any event, these parallels must raise provocative questions concerning Richardson's possible indebtedness to this work.

In spite of these overwhelming similarities, the plots of Pamela and The Fortunate Country Maid fundamentally differ in one important respect. In Pamela, Mr. B tries to rape the heroine; he offers to make her his whore: he attempts to arrange for her a dishonorable marriage with Parson Williams; and he ultimately weds her himself. In contrast, the Marquis of L—— V—— stands virtually outside the action during most of The Fortunate Country Maid. Jenny fends off a rape, but it is attempted by Chevalier d'Elbieux; she rejects the position of a whore, but it is offered by M. de G—— and his housekeeper (who incidentally is much like Mrs. Jervis); she avoids an arranged marriage, but it is proposed by M. de G—— and M. Gripart. Jenny does eventually, however, marry the Marquis. Once the Chevalier d'Elbieux—villain of the first part of the story—reforms and becomes a monk, the role of villain devolves on the Marquis of L—— V——'s father, who tries to block at all turns the impending marriage between his son and this peasant girl. It is the elder Marquis who causes St. Fal to imprison Jenny, and it is Jenny's plot to avoid the elder Marquis which causes her to be threatened by the Colbrand-like Swiss. Throughout all this, the young Marquis remains unblemished, his proposal of a clandestine marriage and his excessive jealousy simply indicating his passionate love, not his moral turpitude.

The implications of this important difference between Mr. B and the Marquis of L—— V—— should be clear to us even if they were not to the author of Pamela Censured. As Ralph Rader indicates in a recent essay dealing with, among other things, the narrative form of Pamela: "Richardson's chief problem in the novel is the need his form imposes to make Mr. B. both a villain and a hero. B. must threaten Pamela and threaten her increasingly, else our sense of her danger and the[Pg xi] merit which develops from her response to danger will not increase, as the form requires, along lines that make her ultimate reward possible; but the more directly and villainously he does threaten her, the less acceptable he will appear as an ultimate and satisfactory reward for her, something that the form requires also."[11] Jenny's reward, her marriage to the Marquis of L—— V——, raises no serious moral questions since the Marquis remains virtuous throughout the story. Moreover, while Jenny carefully protects her chastity, she does not in any sense seem motivated by mercenary desires since the preservation of her chastity does not necessarily lead to her marriage with the Marquis. Pamela's reward, on the other hand, is marriage to a vicious though presumably reformed rake. The preservation of her chastity, furthermore, seems motivated by mercenary goals. Finding herself in a situation where she either looses her chastity and becomes Mr. B's whore or preserves her chastity and becomes his wife, Pamela clearly chooses the more profitable alternative.

The artistic success of Clarissa undoubtedly reflects in part the lesson Richardson learned from such moral attacks as Pamela Censured and Shamela. While "warm scenes" remain in his second novel—as indeed they must in any realistic portrayal of male-female relations—Richardson continually tempers these scenes with clear indications of Lovelace's vicious nature and careful forebodings of Clarissa's tragic fate. Moreover, unlike Pamela, whose reward is marriage to her would-be rapist, Clarissa escapes from her seducer, achieving a morally unambiguous reward, her heroic death.

University of California

Los Angeles

[Pg xii]

NOTES TO THE INTRODUCTION

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

The facsimile of Pamela Censured (1741) is reproduced by permission from the copy (Shelf Mark: *EC7/R3961/T741p) in the Houghton Library, Harvard University. The total type-page (p. 7) measures 166 x 83 mm.

PAMELA CENSURED:

IN A LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

SHEWING

That under the Specious Pretence of Cultivating the Principles of Virtue in the Minds of the Youth of both Sexes, the most artful and alluring amorous Ideas are convey'd.

And that, instead of being divested of all Images that tend to inflame; Her Letters abound with Incidents, which must necessarily raise in the unwary Youth that read them, Emotions far distant from the Principles of Virtue.

Exemplified in many Quotations, with a Critical Review, and Remarks upon the Whole.

LONDON:

Printed for J. Roberts, at the Oxford Arms, in Warwick-Lane. Mdccxli.[Pg 1]

To the Reverend

Doctor SLOCOCK,

Chaplain of St. Saviour's in Southwark.

Reverend Sir,

When a Person, whose Profession and Character in the World claim a Reverence and Attention, exerts himself in earnestly recommending a Piece to our Perusal, as he bespeaks[Pg 2] Esteem for it, so consequently we are induced to be more curious in our Inspection thereof; especially if that Recommendation is back'd by the Sanction of being deliver'd from the most solemn Place, and from whence we are to expect Nothing but Truth and Virtue. PAMELA has been honour'd in this Manner, both the Pulpit and the Press have joined in its Praises, and extoll'd it as the most perfect Piece of the Kind. This excited me to the Reading, and pleas'd that this Age had been capable of producing so much finish'd Excellence, which I concluded it must be from the extraordinary Encomiums so lavishly bestow'd on it, I open'd the Book with an Esteem but little short of Veneration; but upon Perusal was amazed to find Passages, which a Gentleman[Pg 3] who is set apart and devoted, not only to Morality, but the strictest Virtue and Piety, must be conscious to himself are inconsistent with either, and even blush at them while he reads: No Divine, I imagine, would recommend any Thing in his Sacred Function, but what might be repeated there, without Offence to Decency and Morality, at least, or but what is even capable of inculcating in our Minds the Doctrine there deliver'd. That I think Pamela is deficient in both is the Occasion of this Address to You, and Subject of the following Epistle to the Editor, which I submit to Your Judgment; if I am mistaken in my Censures I shall as readily retract them, as I hope all those who have applauded it for the most perfect Pattern of Virtue and Instruction,[Pg 4] will their superabundant Praises, when they find the Passages I have cited rather deserve Expulsion. I am,

SIR,

Your Humble Servant,

[Pg 5]

Pamela Censured, &c.

SIR,

As You have pleased in Your Third Edition of Pamela, or (what you call) Virtue Rewarded, to insert Extracts from several curious recommendatory Letters, to perswade us that nothing could every equal this Performance, I hope as I dissent from those Gentlemens Opinion, you will with Impartiality receive my Reasons for so doing; nor condemn me less for honestly disapproving, than you caress them for fulsomely flattering.

The Pompous Promise of your Title Page, the Manner in which it is introduced, and your[Pg 6] undertaking in a Series of familiar Letters, from a beautiful Young Virgin to her Parents to inculcate Virtue, the very Mention of such a Method of Instruction, has, I don't doubt induced Numbers, as it did me, to read your Pamela, and by contributing to the large Sale thereof, made the World (as is generally the Case) judge of the Worth of it.

The Porch erected with cunning Symmetry, and shining with agreeable Colours allures us in; Nature, Truth, Virtue and Religion; Words that are sure to please not only the Innocent Youth, but the more Thinking and experienced Sage, are press'd into the Service of the first Page; and so artfully rank'd that they at once invite us to proceed and assure us that the Production can be nothing less than a Miracle: Nay so much are you convinc'd of it's Worth, so happy in the Consideration of your own Desert, that, tacitly condemning all former Writings of the like Kind, You assume to yourself the Merit of prescribing Virtue, and cultivating both that and Religion (which by the way I never knew were distinct before) in the Minds of the Youth of both Sexes, and that you have the Honour of now First publishing these Things to the World: Was no Romance or Novel ever published with a Design to recommend moral Virtue?—Is Pamela the First of that Kind! No surely; as to[Pg 7] your Title, La Paysanne parvenue now translated into English, a little French Novel, is something more modest, and as much calculated for the Encouragement of Virtue. That is a plain Tale, it is recommended and received as such but Pamela is first a Series of Letters from a Girl to her Parents, which it is presumed are offered us as Originals, and then immediately we are told it is a Narrative which has it's Foundation in Truth, and Nature; now what can any Man that would reduce this to the Language of his own Opinion and Judgment call it, but, a Romance form'd in Manner of a literary Correspondence founded on a Tale which the Author had heard, and modell'd into it's present Shape. Allowing this, which is the modestest Construction I can put upon it, and that it was founded upon Truth, yet several Things may and have been added thereto: Art and Invention, have been used; and however true the Foundation may have been, yet a few Removes and Transitions, may make it deviate into a downright Falsehood: In all Additions, and what may by some be called Embellishments to the Story, Fancy must take Place and where that presides, any Gentleman who is too much troubled with it, knows the Consequence: From thence Imaginary Characters will arise, still spreading and increasing, and the busy Phantom will ever be pleased at shadowy Beings of it's own Formation; yet the Substance that gave those[Pg 8] Shadows may be founded on Truth; but thus extended like the Reflections from a declining Summer Evening's Sun, it may please Children with their seeming gigantic Heights, while Men acknowledge it but as the last feeble Efforts of his Light.

But notwithstanding all the great Things you promise us at first, of Truth, Virtue and Religion, and that your Book is intirely divested of all those Images which in too many Pieces tend only to inflame the Mind, yet give me Leave to say, Sir, that I believe you will find but few of the many Pieces which you so self-assumingly condemn that abound with more Instances of inflaming Sentiments than your own, as in the Course of this Epistle, I shall point out to you.

Nor does the Process of your Work fall short of your first setting out; you there as an Editor arrogate to yourself all the Praise that the most lavish could bestow on your Desert, had it been real and silent; Fame founded by a Stranger's Breath, comes tuneful to the Ear, but self-blown grows harsh and dissonant, and we condemn, the Conceitedness and Affectation of what we might otherwise esteem.[Pg 9]

And here give me Leave to observe, Sir, that tho' your great Modesty for some particular Reasons, one of which appears to be, that you could not otherwise be acquitted of intolerable Vanity in applauding yourself as you have done, has induced you to stile yourself only Editor; yet, Sir, from several Sentences undesignedly dropt, where the Current of your own agreeable Flattery has carried you beyond your Depth, I can't help thinking that you are more than barely Editor. The Story may have it's Foundation in Truth and Nature; but the Superstructure is your own; the fictitious Pamela may bear the Resemblance of some happy rural Maid, who for her Virtue and Beauty may have been raised from the Plain to the Toilette, from the Sheepcote to the Mansion House, but the natural Air, the dignified Simplicity, the measur'd Fulness in it are properly to be ascribed to you: I shall therefore henceforward treat you as Half-Editor, Half-Author of Pamela. I am not ignorant what Art and Industry have been employed, privately to intimate that what gave Rise to this inimitable and so much commended Piece, was an Occurrence of the like Kind that happen'd some time since in the Family of a certain Noble Lord; if this be the Case, I must confess 'tis so highly shadow'd that the Outlines of your Draughts are almost obscured, and suffer us only to guess at the Likeness. Nor can[Pg 10] I help joining with one of your complemental Friends, and acknowledge, that your Picture in resembling Life outglows it.

First then, as Editor, you launch forth into all the extravagant Praises that ever could enter the Heart of a young Author, before his first favourite Performance was condemn'd by the Public. In this Disguise you take a full Aim, and by presenting your Readers with a Prologue to your own Praise, you would prepossess them with Applause, and fondly surfeit on the Eccho. The many Eulogia in your Preface stated with Ifs, and artfully in the Conclusion bestowed on Pamela are but an Abstract of what fulsome Praises an Author wou'd privately entertain himself with, or indeed look like what the Booksellers are very often forced to say to make a bad Copy go off. However they may tickle the Ears, they can never charm the Sense, and in plain English may be render'd thus:

What Vanity is this! Did it ever appear more conspicuous in the Writings of any one? The worthy Gentleman who is appointed to preside over the British Muses, hath been frequently accused of being a perfect Master in this Art; nay, so far indeed does it extenuate the Crime, that he acknowledges the Foible. He has long been allowed to reign sole Monarch of the Realms of Effrontery and Vanity; but in you, Sir, let him dread a formidable Rival.

The positively pronouncing a Thing quite perfect, and the only good one of its Kind upon your meer ipse Dixi, is something so novel, and tacitly calling all Fools who shall dare to swerve from that Opinion, gives it such an Air of Consequence and assur'd Success, as may prevail on many, who search no farther than the Surface to believe it to be what it is represented; but to Persons who may be as sensible, tho' perhaps not so bigotted to an Opinion, as the Editor, it must only afford Matter for Laughter and Ridicule.[Pg 13]

If it is not ludicrous, (tho' what can be too light a Counterpoise for such frothy Affectation!) I once met with a Story from an honest Country Man, which seems very applicable to the Case in Question. A Doctor, says the Farmer, once did us the Honour of a Visit at our Village, he appeared in all the Ornament of Dress necessary to excite Curiosity in simple unmeaning Clowns, he began his Harangue, by inveighing bitterly against the Errors and Tricks of his Brother Practitioners, their Advice was deficient, their Drugs unwholsome, and instead of healing, they did but taint the Body; he only prescribed what was proper, and his Arcanum was the grand Restorative of Health then first published, with a salutary Design of confirming the whole Country's Health to the utter Ruin of all Physicians, Apothecaries, &c. Name what Disease you would, his little Pill was an immediate and sovereign Remedy. During the Doctor's Oration there appear'd behind him a surly Sort of a Fellow, dress'd in all the Accoutrements that could be collected together to make him look terrible, yet through all, you might discern a sly leering Grin: No sooner had the Doctor pronounced his Nostrum universal, but Andrew (for he, it seems, was the formidable Hero in Disguise) advancing forward with an Air military flourishes his broad Sword over his Head; and[Pg 14] being mildly ask'd by the Doctor, what was the Occasion of that tremendous Visage, he boldly answered——to Kill any one that dare dispute it.

Thus you, Sir, as Editor stand boldly a Swiss at your own Portal, to invite in your Friends with recommendatory Letters, and hard strain'd complemental Rhimes to yourself as Author, to usher your doughty Performance into the World.

I shall pass over them in a cursory Manner, as they only appear to be Aiders and Abetters, and not principally concerned; they only tend to sound forth the Praise of the Book, and amount to little more than what the Vulgar call a Puff. The first of them insinuates a French Translation, and as I see one is since advertised to be published, it may not be amiss to congratulate the Gentleman, whoever he is, on his lucky Thought, and wish him as much Success on his being Translator, as you have met with in being Editor; tho' upon Consideration I must confess that would be doing wrong, for as I think the Book to have a bad Tendency in general, (which I shall endeavour to prove presently) to transmit it into another Language is but spreading the Infection farther.[Pg 15]

The next Epistle abounds with the same fulsome Flattery as the former, it is there—"full of Instruction and Morality,—a pure clear Fountain of Truth and Innocence;—a Magazine of Virtue and unblemish'd Thoughts:—ALL others tend only to corrupt our Principles and mislead our Judgments, but Pamela must be for the universal Benefit of Mankind, 'twill reclaim the Vicious, and mend the Age in general."

The Introduction to the Second Edition is only calculated to load us with still more Stuff of the same Kind as the former; You would do well, Sir, before you so confidently affirm the Gentleman who hath given his Opinion upon the Objections that have been offered to be a Person of distinguish'd Taste and Abilities, either to have let us known who he was, or some of his former Works, which might have convinced us of those Abilities, for I think the long Harangue prefix'd to Pamela will never be deem'd a sufficient Proof thereof——The Gentleman himself acknowledges that when it has dwelt all Day long upon the Ear, it takes Possession all night of the Fancy; That is, I suppose, it contributes to make his Dreams something pleasanter than usual; and I am sorry if I am mistaken, but it seems to me, that he wrote his Dissertation half awake and half asleep, just as he[Pg 16] was disturb'd from one of those agreeable Reveries——His Return from his Walk in the Snow and the Reflection there made, is far from holding good, if it shall appear that the Author of Pamela, instead of being Father to Millions of Minds, serves only to inspire them with Thoughts and Ideas, which must infallibly make the Mind subservient to the Body, and Reason not only fall a Victim to, but, quite debauch'd, assist the sensual Appetites.

The Objections pretended to be made by an anonymous Gentleman were in my Opinion only formed on Purpose for the Sake of the Answers; so passing over them:—Parson Williams's Dove without serpentine Mixture; the natural Story of the little Boy, for which Sort of Admirers Pamela seems to be more immediately calculated, &c. I come to the Objection the Gentleman makes himself, which I cant think would be sufficiently obviated by any Alteration in the Front of another Edition, while the same is retained in the very Body of the Story; his Objection take in his own Words.

"There are Mothers or Grandmothers (saith he) in all Families of affluent Fortune who tho' they may have none of Lady Davers's Insolence, will be apt to feel one of her Fears—That the Example of a Gentleman so amiable[Pg 17] as Mr. B—— may be follow'd by the Jackies their Sons, with too blind and unreflecting a Readiness; nor does the Answer of that Gentleman to his Sister's Reproach come quite up to the Point they will rest on: For though indeed it is true, all the World would acquit the best Gentleman in it, if he married such a Waiting Maid as Pamela, yet there is an ill discerning Partiality in Passion that will overthrow all the Force of that Argument: Because every beloved Maid would be a Pamela, in a Judgment obscured by her Influence."

Nor can I think he has stated his own Objection as strong as it might be, or even sufficiently answer'd it as it is, for where he recommends "the purpos'd Excitement of Persons in Pamela's Condition of Life, by an Emulation of her Sweetness, Humility, Modesty, Patience and Industry to attain some faint Hope of arriving in Time within View of her Happiness?——What a delightful Reformation, says he, should we see in all Families, where the Vanity of their Maids took no Turn toward Ambition to please, but by such innocent Pleasures as Pamelia's."

This is first of all making an Objection, then denying it to be one; for what does he defend in the last Paragraph, but the very Thing[Pg 18] that is allowed to be the general bad Tendency of the Book, viz: That every Maid Servant from what low Stock soever she sprung, if she is pretty modest, &c. has an undoubted Right to attempt to entice her Master to Marriage:——Nay in what he allows is proposed to teach the Gay World and the Fortunate, he more particularly acknowledges it to be this.——"By Comparison with that infinite Remoteness of her Condition from the Reward which her Virtue procured her, one great Proof is derived, (which, says he expressly; is Part of the Moral of Pamela) that Advantages from Birth, and Distinction of Fortune have no Power at all, when consider'd against those of Behaviour and Temper of Mind: Because where the last are not added, all the first will be boasted in Vain. Whereas she who possesses the last, finds no Want of the first in her Influence."——If this is proper Instructions for young Ladies I am deceived, for by the same Rule that it may hold good with Servant Maids in regard to their obtaining their Young Masters (which he would call as above——the Reward their Virtue procured them.). It must equally make the Ladies conclude that if they can find any thing mere deserving in their Footmen than the Young Gentlemen, who by a suitable Rank and Fortune are designed to be their Suitors, they are under no Obligation to chuse the latter, but are meritoriously[Pg 19] throwing down all Distinction of Family and taking up with the former.

Thus much, Sir, I have thought proper to observe in regard to your Assistants; now give me Leave to say, that I think your Pamela so far from being a proper Entertainment for the Youth of both Sexes, especially the young Ladies, that it is indisputable no young Girl however innocent she may be; at the Age when Nature softens and moulds the tender yielding Heart to Love can possibly read several Passages in it, which I shall point out, without conceiving Ideas she otherwise might never have dream'd of; and instead of recommending it to my Daughters I would keep it from their Sight, as too pernicious for them to converse with.

But before I enter into any particular Parts, I will take a short Summary of the whole Tale as you would willingly have it represented, with my Objections thereto, and wherein I think you fall short of what you have promised in your Title Page, and is directly the Reverse of the Encomiums bestow'd in your Preface.

The Foundation of Pamela's Story is Truth and Nature as you have laid it down at first, pursuant to this you would have represented to us, in the Characters you have drawn, a Young Girl[Pg 20] born of honest but mean Parents, who by some Means or other had procured for their only surviving Child a Place in a Lady of Fashion's Family, where her Education and growing Beauty just at her blooming Age, by the Death of her old Lady, left her a warm Temptation to a succeeding Heir, who had joined all the Prejudices of modern polite Education to the insulting Affluence of Fortune; he accordingly among his deceased Mother's Treasure finds this beauteous Virgin, and thinking that his Fortune might or juvenile Gaiety attract her an easy devoted Prey to his amorous Inclinations, he tries all Arts to seduce her thereto, but finding them all ineffectual, he at last flies even to Threats and Anger to force her to gratify a then raging brutal Passion which became too fierce to be endured, and too predominant to be stifled or overcome, and in order to bring her to Compliance, he is guilty of the basest Treachery and Perfidiousness; for instead of letting her return in Safety to her Father and Mother as he had promised her, and which more speciously to make her believe, he complements her with his own Chariot to carry her, but at the same Time gives private Orders to his Servants to convey her far from the Place she desires to go to, there to be immur'd like a Prisoner, and all this in Hopes of forcing her into Compliance. There commited to the safe Custody of a Swiss, and one that is nothing better than an old Bawd;[Pg 21] there a thousand Difficulties surround her, the poor artless Maid still unacquainted with Love, and all it's little Artifices, here lights of a Minister, who professing a Value and Esteem For her, undertakes at the Hazard and Expence of his own Welfare and Subsistence to engage in her Cause and procure her Liberty; but meeting with a severe Disappointment even to his then seeming utter Ruin, the Design proves abortive, and the poor Girl is still left to further and terrible Trials of her Chastity; 'till at last overcomeing all, she captivates her Tyrant, binds him in soft Fetters of Love, when he only means to enslave her in Chains of Lust. Thus by a quick Transition from a Servant Maid, she becomes the lawful Mistress of the Dwelling she so lately waited in; and is supposed to give as excellent Example as a Wife, as she gave of Chastity as a Maid. And thus is Virtue Rewarded.

The most sanguine of your Admirers could not, I fancy, more inpartially state the Case, as it has been represented by them in your Behalf. Now let us examine what is the Opinion of as many on the other Side. Their first great Charge, is, that in the narrative Part of her Letters, you have interspersed too many Scenes that directly tend to inflame the Minds of Youth: Next, that Pamela instead of being artless and innocent sets out at first with as much Knowledge of the Arts of the[Pg 22] Town, as if she had been born and bred in Covent Garden, all her Life Time; that your fine Gentleman does not come up to the Character you would fain have him be thought to assume, that his Sister Lady Davers, is little better than a downright Billingsgate, and her poor Lord is the only one who meets with Pity. That Mrs. Jewkes might take Colbrand with her and set up in a House somewhere in the Purlieus of St. Giles, while honest Mother Jervis might marry Jonathan, and perhaps be promoted to a little Inn of Squire B's in the Country, even that Mrs. Pamela stopp'd at in her Journey to the Lincolnshire Estate. Thus, Sir, do many enter into Conversation with the Character of Men of Taste and Pleasantry, find Fault in Opposition to the exuberant Praises bestow'd on Pamela by others.

I however was much more pleas'd for my own Part with the Opinion of a stay'd sober Gentleman, who was then call'd upon to declare his Sentiments, tho' I don't send it to you as an Extract from a Curious Letter, neither was it submitted to him, as a Gentleman of the most distinguish'd Taste and Abilities. But to the best of my Remembrance he express'd himself something like the following Manner.

I don't approve, said he, of the Extravagancies which People have run into on both sides of[Pg 23] the Question in regard to Pamela, neither of those who have cried it up as a Masterpiece in its Kind and the most perfect Thing that ever was published; nor of those who depreciate it as the most insignificant Trifle they ever met with, and hardly worth Notice, on the contrary, I think it is very artfully work'd up, and the Passions so strongly touch'd that it is impossible for Youth to read it without Sympathy, and even wishing themselves in such a Situation, which must be attended with very bad Consequences. Pamela under the Notion of being a Virtuous Modest Girl will be introduced into all Families, and when she gets there, what Scenes does she represent? Why a fine young Gentleman endeavouring to debauch a beautiful Girl of Sixteen. The Advances are regular, and the amorous Conflicts so agreeably and warmly depicted, that the young Gentleman Reader will at the best be tempted to rehearse some of the same Scenes with some Pamela or other in the Family, and the Modest Young Lady can never read the Description of Naked Breasts being run over with the Hand, and Kisses given with such Eagerness that they cling to the Lips; but her own soft Breasts must heave at the Idea and secretly sigh for the same Pressure; what then can she do when she comes to the closer Struggles of the Bed, where the tender Virgin lies panting and exposed, if not to the last Conquest, (which I think the Author hath barely avoided)[Pg 24] at least to all the Liberties which ungoverned Hands of a determined Lover must be supposed to take? If she is contented with only wishing for the same Trial to shew the Steadiness of her Virtue it is sufficient; but if Nature should be too powerful, as Nature at Sixteen is a very formidable Enemy tho' Shame and the Censure of the World may restrain her from openly gratifying the criminal Thought, yet she privately may seek Remedies which may drive her to the most unnatural Excesses.

This then, said he, in short is my Opinion of Pamela; that the Story is prettily related, the Passions finely wrought up, and the Catastrophe beautifully concluded, but in the Course of the Narrative, and almost interspersed throughout the Whole, there are such Scenes of Love, and such lewd Ideas, as must fill the Youth that read them with Sentiments and Desires worse than Rochester can, and for this Reason, they will start at a gross Expression, which if nicely and artfully convey'd they'll dwell on with Rapture. Therefore I think it wholly unfit for Youth, and declare freely I would by no Means trust my Daughters with reading it.

This Gentleman's Opinion induced me to read over your Pamela, and I really find it too true: There is a perfect System of Intrigue, and[Pg 25] they begin so gently by Degrees, and are led on so methodically to the last Grand Attack, and this with amorous Attacks in View, even thro' the gravest Sentences of Morality that it is impossible to read it without endeavouring to gratify the Passion he hath raised; let us view Pamela then, divested of the Drapery in which she is enclos'd, tho' not hid, and then her Charms will appear thus: The wise Father will never think it proper for his Son's Closet, and the careful Mother banish that with other Novels and Romances from her Daughter's Cabinet.

PAMELA begins from the Death of her Lady, and tho' she gives the Narrative in her own Person, yet let us take it as a Tale only, without any Consideration had to it's being epistolary, and the loose Images will be the more connected, and glare the stronger; which Mr. Editor, that I may not misrepresent, I will quote in your own Words, and make Remarks on them as they occur.

The young Gentleman coming to take Possession of his Treasure, finds this young Virgin among it, the good old Gentlewoman, on her Death-bed, recommends her to his Care with one Design, and he receives her with quite another. Here's a fine Field open'd for a luscious Tale, the Game is started, and the Author like[Pg 26] a staunch Sportsman never once loses Sight;——Mr. B. begins very tenderly: After a little Toying, Kissing, &c. he makes Miss a Present of several fine Things, and here, says the Author, I'll just give my Readers a soft Touch to see how they will entertain amorous Reflections; p. 12. "I was inwardly ashamed to take the Stockens; for Mrs. Jervis was not there; If she had, it would have been nothing. I believe I received them very awkwardly; for he smiled at my Awkwardness, and said, Don't blush, Pamela: Dost think I don't know pretty Maids wear Shoes and Stockens?" Yes, to be sure, and Garters and Stomachers and Smocks,——but ola! little Miss would have cried, that's a Pah Word, and my Mamma wont let me read such naughty Books!

Well! the young Gentleman grows a little bolder, his Sister indeed the good Lady Davers! She thinks the poor Girl is designed to be ruin'd: And she does no more to prevent it then shake her Head and cry, Ah Brother! Now Miss is at Work in the Summer House, and let us see the Interview, I assure you the Scene rises a little, and the innocent Girl appears mighty skillful; p. 17, 18. "I saw some Reason to suspect; for he would look upon me, whenever he saw me, in such a manner as shew'd not well; and at last he came to me, as I was in the Summer-house in the[Pg 27] little Garden, at work with my Needle, and Mrs. Jervis was just gone from me; and I would have gone out; but he said, No, don't go, Pamela; I have something to say to you; and you always fly me, when I come near you, as if you were afraid of me. I was much out of Countenance, you may well think; but said at last, It does not become your poor Servant to stay in your Presence, Sir, without your Business requir'd it; and I hope I shall always know my Place. Well, says he, my Business does require it sometimes, and I have a Mind you should stay to hear what I have to say to you. I stood all-confounded, and began to tremble, and the more when he took me by the Hand; for now no Soul was near us. My Sister Davers, said he (and seem'd, I thought, to be as much at a Loss for Words as I) would have had you live with her; but she would not do for you what I am resolved to do, if you continue faithful and obliging. What say'st thou, my Girl? said he, with some Eagerness; had'st thou not better stay with me, than go to my Sister Davers? He look'd so, as fill'd me with Affrightment; I don't know how; wildly, I thought. I said, when I could speak, Your Honour will forgive me; but as you have no Lady for me to wait upon, and my good Lady has been now dead this Twelvemonth, I had rather, if[Pg 28] it would not displease you, wait upon Lady Davers, because—I was proceeding, and he said a little hastily Because you are a little Fool, and know not what's good for yourself. I tell you, I will make a Gentlewoman of you, if you'll be obliging, and don't stand in your own Light, and so saying, he put his Arm about me and kiss'd me! Now you will say, all his Wickedness appear'd plainly. I struggled, and trembled, and was so benumb'd with Terror, that I sunk down, not in a Fit, and yet not myself; and I found myself in his Arms, quite void of Strength; and he kissed me two or three times, with frightful Eagerness.——At last I burst from him, and was getting out of the Summer House; but he held me back, and shut the Door." He then bids her have done blubbering, and offers her some Money. After this Miss is afraid to lie alone, and wants a Confidante. Well good Mrs. Jervis to be sure is glad of the Offer, and some Time passes 'till the 'Squire comes to Town again. And here the Author (fearing least his Male Readers should have no Entertainment, the former being more adapted to improve the Female,) contrives to give us an Idea of Pamela's hidden Beauties, and very decently to spread her upon the Floor, for all who will peep thro' the Door to surfeit on the Sight; but first takes care to put them in Life by a Flurry lest they should appear too dead and[Pg 29] languid: p. 30. "At last he came in again, but, alas! with Mischief in his heart! and raising me up, he, said, Rise, Pamela, rise; you are your own Enemy. Your perverse Folly will be your Ruin; I tell you this, that I am very much displeased with the Freedoms you have taken with my Name to my House-keeper, as also to your Father and Mother; and you may as well have real Cause to take these Freedoms with me, as to make my Name suffer for imaginary ones. And saying so, he offered to take me on his Knee, with some Force. O how I was terrify'd! I said, like as I had read in a Book a Night or two before, Angels, and Saints, and all the Host of Heaven, defend me! And may I never survive one Moment, that fatal one in which I shall forfeit my Innocence. Pretty Fool! said he, how will you forfeit your Innocence, if you are oblig'd to yield to a Force you cannot withstand? Be easy, said he; for let the worse happen that can, you'll have the Merit, and I the Blame; and it will be a Subject for Letters to your Father and Mother, and a Tale in the Bargain for Mrs. Jervis. He by Force kissed my Neck and Lips; Who even blamed Lucretia, but the Ravisher only? And I am content to take all the Blame upon me; as I have all ready born too great a Share for what I have deservd. May[Pg 30] I, said I, Lucretia like, justify myself with my Death, if I am used barbarously? O my good Girl! said he, tauntingly, you are well read, I see; and we shall make out between us, before we have done, a pretty Story in Romance, I warrant ye. He then put his Hand in my Bosom, and the Indignation gave me double Strength, and I got loose from him by a sudden Spring, and ran out of the Room and the next Chamber being open, I made shift to get into it, and threw-to the Door; and the Key being of the Inside, it locked; but he followed me so close, he got hold of my Gown, and tore a Piece off, which hung without the Door. I just remember I got into the Room; for I knew nothing further of the Matter till afterwards; for I fell into a Fit with my Fright and Terror, and there I lay, till he, as I suppose, looking through the Key-hole, spy'd me lying all along upon the Floor, stretch'd out at my Length; and then he call'd Mrs. Jervis to me, who, by his Assistance, bursting open the Door, he went away, I seeming to be coming to myself; and bid her say nothing of the Matter, if she was wise. Poor Mrs. Jervis thought it was worse."

Was not the Squire very modest to withdraw? for she lay in such a pretty Posture that Mrs.[Pg 31] Jervis thought it was worse, and Mrs. Jervis was a Woman of Discernment; but however Pamela did no more than what Ladies of Fashion do to their Footmen every Morning, shew herself in Dishabille or so.

The Young Lady by thus discovering a few latent Charms, as the snowy Complexion of her Limbs, and the beautiful Symmetry and Proportion which a Girl of about fifteen or sixteen must be supposed to shew by tumbling backwards, after being put in a Flurry by her Lover, and agitated to a great Degree takes her smelling Bottle, has her Laces cut, and all the pretty little necessary Things that the most luscious and warm Description can paint, or the fondest Imagination conceive. How artfully has the Author introduced an Image that no Youth can read without Emotion! The Idea of peeping thro' a Key-hole to see a fine Woman extended on a Floor in a Posture that must naturally excite Passions of Desire, may indeed be read by one in his grand Climacteric without ever wishing to see one in the same Situation, but the Editor of Pamela directs himself to the Youth of both Sexes, therefore all the Instruction they can possibly receive from this Passage is, first to the young Men that the more they endeavour to find out the hidden Beauties of their Mistresses, the more they must approve them; and for that Purpose all they have to do, is, to[Pg 32] move them by some amorous Dalliance to give them a transient View of the Pleasure they are afterwards to reap from the beloved Object. And Secondly, to the young Ladies that whatever Beauties they discover to their Lovers, provided they grant not the last Favour, they only ensure their Admirers the more; and by a Glimpse of Happiness captivate their Suitor the better. So that a young Lover in order to encourage his growing Virtue is not to blame to see his Mistress in her Shift, nor the young Lady to permit it, if she can discreetly do it so as not to let him think she is sensible of it, 'tis as much as to say, ye Rakes! Raise the Inclination of the Girls 'till they can scarce refuse complying, then let them fly from ye to their Chambers, and there reveal in private to your longing Sight the Beauties which upon no Account they would openly entertain ye with.

The lovely, the innocent Pamela, after her Master had seen her like a new born Venus rising from the Waves, as one of the Poets expresses it, seems to know nothing of the Matter, and yet with all the Inconsistence imaginable expresses herself as cunningly and knowing upon the Subject as the best bred Town Lass of them all could have done: The Squire offers her Money, which she refuses; and in her Conversation with Mrs. Jervis, upon that Head, she expresses herself[Pg 33] thus: p. 41. "After such Offers, and such Threatnings, and his comparing himself to a wicked Ravisher, in the very Time of his last Offer; and making a Jest of me, that we should make a pretty Story in Romance; can I stay, and be safe? Has he not demean'd him self twice? And it behoves me to beware of the third Time, for fear he should lay his Snares surer; for mayhap he did not expect a poor Servant would resist her Master so much. And must it not be look'd upon as a sort of Warrant for such Actions, if I stay after this? For I think, when one of our Sex finds she is attempted, it is an Encouragement to a Person to proceed, if one puts one's self in the Way of it, when one can help it; and it shews one can forgive what in short ought, not to be forgiven: Which is no small Countenance to foul Actions, I'll assure you."

Yet notwithstanding all this, her Virtue is only founded on Shame, and she seems to imply that could she be secure from the Censure of the World she would not hesitate to commit the Sin, p. 44. "Well, but, Mrs. Jervis, said I, let me ask you, if he can stoop to like such a poor Girl as I, as perhaps he may (for I have read of Things almost as strange, from great Men to poor Damsels) What can it be for?—He[Pg 34] may condescend, mayhap, to think I may be good enough for his Harlot; and those Things don't disgrace Men, that ruin poor Women, as the World goes. And so, if I was wicked enough, he would keep me till I was undone, and 'till his Mind changed; for even wicked Men, I have read, soon grow weary of Wickedness of one Sort, and love Variety. Well then, poor Pamela must be turn'd off, and look'd upon as a vile abandon'd Creature, and every body would despise her; ay, and justly too, Mrs. Jervis; for she that can't keep her Virtue, ought to live in Disgrace." Fine Instruction truly! That is, My Master lik'd me, he would have made a Harlot of me, but then if I should consent, he may be tired perhaps in a Month or two, or meet with Somebody he likes better, then poor Pamela will be turn'd off, and the World will call her a Fool.

I must now address you Sir, as Author and acknowledge that your Skill in Intrigue is most apparent, not content with permitting us to fill our Fancy with the naked Charms of the lovely Pamela, luxuriant in your Art, you contrive to give us her Picture in a simple rural Dress; the Squire fir'd at the View of those lovely Limbs is still kept warm by Variety, and, cloath'd in a Disguise, they are again to attack him in another Shape: She, who could charm so much in[Pg 35] a loose Undress on the Floor, must doubtless keep that Ardour still alive, dress'd in the unaffected Embellishments of a neat Country Girl. And tho' the Servant Maid might fail to please, the Farmer's Daughter must inevitably catch the Country Squire; yet how artfully is this Masquerade introduced! The poor Girl for not complying at once to his Request, is threaten'd to be turn'd away, and accordingly to go Home to her Father and Mother, in a Condition agreeable to theirs, dresses herself in the most alluring Habit that her Circumstances will afford: p. 63. "I trick'd myself up as well as I could in my Garb, and put on my round-ear'd Cap; but with a green Knot however, and my home-spun Gown and Petticoat, and plain-leather Shoes; but yet they are what they call Spanish Leather, and my ordinary Hose, ordinary I mean to what I have been lately used to; tho' I shall think good Yarn may do very well for every Day, when I come home. A plain Muslin Tucker I put on, and my black Silk Necklace, instead of the French Necklace my Lady gave me; and put the Ear-rings out of my Ears; and when I was quite 'quipp'd, I took my Straw Hat in my Hand, with its two blue Strings, and look'd about me in the Glass, as proud as any thing——To say Truth, I never lik'd myself so well in my Life."[Pg 36]

PAMELA is now become a beautiful young Rustic, each latent Grace, and every blooming Charm is called forth to wound, not in affected Finery, but in an artful Simplicity; nor is your Conduct less, Sir, in introducing her to the Squire: Beauties that might grow familiar to the Eye and pall upon the Passion by being often seen in one Habit, thus varied take a surer Aim to strike.——The Instruction here then is to the Ladies, that by altering their Appearance they are more likely to catch their Lover's Affections than by being always the same; and that a neat cherry cheek'd Country Lass tripping along with a Straw Hat in her Hand may allure, when perhaps a pale faced Court Lady might be despised; and I dare say, that no young Gentleman who reads this, but wishes himself in Mrs. Jervis's Place to turn Pamela about and about and examine all her Dress to her under Petticoat.

The next Thing is how to introduce her to the Squire, and in that Mrs. Jervis is as decently drawn in for a Procuress as can be; he sees her talking with Mrs. Jervis, and thinking her to be a fresh Lady, sends for Mrs. Jervis to him, who notwithstanding she would do all she can to preserve the Maiden's Virtue, yet insists upon her going to him in her new Garb, tho' she must certainly know it could only tend to inflame his[Pg 37] Desire the more, and urge him to still greater Liberties: p. 65, 66: "She stept to me, and told me, I must go in with her to my Master; but, said she, for Goodness sake, let him not find you out; for he don't know you. O fie, Mrs. Jervis, said I, how could you serve me so? Besides, it looks too free both in me, and to him. I tell you, said she, you shall come in; and pray don't reveal yourself till he finds you out. So I went in, foolish as I was; tho' I must have been seen by him another Time, if I had not then. And she would make me take my Straw-hat in my Hand. I dropt a low Curt'sy, but said never a Word. I dare say, he knew me as soon as he saw my Face; but was as cunning as Lucifer. He came up to me, and took me by the Hand, and said, whose pretty Maiden are you?—I dare say you are Pamela's Sister, you are so like her. So neat, so clean, so pretty! Why, Child, you far surpass your Sister Pamela! I was all Confusion, and would have spoken, but he took me about the Neck; Why, said he, you are very pretty, Child; I would not be so free with your Sister, you may believe; but I must kiss you. O Sir, said I, I am Pamela, indeed I am Pamela, her ownself! He kissed me for all I could do; and said, Impossible! You are a lovelier Girl by half than Pamela; and sure I may be innocently free with you, tho'[Pg 38] I would not do her so much Favour. This was a sad Bite upon me indeed, and what I could not expect; and Mrs. Jervis look'd like a Fool as much as I, for her Officiousness. At last I got away, and ran out of the Parlour, most sadly vex'd, as you may well think."

This occasioned an Emotion in him, which is admirably described, but in a Piece designed only to encourage Virtue, no ways necessary to be introduced: p. 67. "He then took me in his Arms, and presently push'd me from him. Mrs. Jervis, said he, take the little Witch from me; I can neither bear, nor forbear her! (Strange Words these!)—But stay, you shan't go! Yet begone!—No, come back again. I thout he was mad, for my Share; for he knew not what he would have. But I was going however, and he stept after me, and took hold of my Arm, and brought me in again: I am sure he made my Arm black and blue; for the Marks are upon it still. Sir, Sir, said I, pray have Mercy; I will, I will come in! He sat down, and look'd at me, and, as I thought afterwards, as sillily as such a poor Girl as I."

Nat. Lee's fiery Kisses, melting Raptures, and the most luxuriant Flowers of amorous Rhetoric cannot more fully express the Onset of a declining[Pg 39] stifled Passion kindled anew; the warm Struggle, the sudden Grasp, and the languishing Eye can hardly be painted in stronger Terms: And tho' I think it beautiful Colouring, yet I should be sorry my Son or Daughter should be delighted with it. What follows this, is what any one might expect, the Squire, fired with this View of his Pamela, grows more eager to accomplish his Designs; but least the Reader should mistake the Purport of the Author, he takes Care to inform them of it by the Mouth of Mrs. Jervis: p. 73, 74. "Upon my Word, says she, Pamela, I don't wonder he loves you; for, without Flattery, you are a charming Girl! and I never saw you look more lovely in my Life, than in that same new Dress of yours. And then it was such a Surprize upon us all!——I believe truly, you owe some of your Danger to the lovely Appearance you made."

Squire B. supposed to be quite impatient, as I observed before, had now resolved to have a last Trial; and for that Purpose concealed himself in the Room where Pamela lay; p. 71. "I went to Mrs. Jervis's Chamber; and, O my dear Father and Mother, my wicked Master had hid himself, base Gentleman as he is! In her Closet, where she has a few Books, and Chest of Drawers, and such-like. I little[Pg 40] suspected it; tho' I used, till this sad Night, always to look into that Closet, another in the Room, and under the Bed, ever since the Summer House Trick, but never found any Thing; and so I did not do it then, being fully resolved to be angry with Mrs. Jervis for what had happened in the Day, and so thought of nothing else. I sat myself down on one Side of the Bed, and she on the other, and we began to undress ourselves." A very fine Instruction this Passage must give us truly! Here he again is to feast his Eyes with her naked Charms, and wait but a little longer before he rushes out to seize them as his own: p. 74. "Hush! said I, Mrs. Jervis, did you not hear something stir in the Closet? No, silly Girl! said she; your Fears are always awake.——But indeed, said I, I think I heard something rustle.——May-be, says she, the Cat may be got there: But I hear nothing. I was hush, but she said, Pr'ythee, my good Girl, make haste to-bed. See if the Door be fast. So I did, and was thinking to look in the Closet; but hearing no more Noise, thought it needless, and so went again and sat myself down on the Bed-side, and went on undressing myself. And Mrs. Jervis, being by this Time undress'd, stepp'd into Bed, and bid me hasten, for she was sleepy. I don't know what was the Matter; but my Heart sadly misgave me; but[Pg 41] Mr. Jonathan's Note was enough to make it do so, with what Mrs. Jervis had said. I pulled off my Stays and my Stockens; and all my Cloaths to an Under Petticoat; and then hearing a rustling in the Closet; I said, Heaven protect us! but before I say my Prayers, I must look into the Closet. And so was going to it slip-shod, when, O dreadful! out rush'd my Master, in a rich silk and silver Morning Gown. I scream'd, and ran to the Bed; and Mrs. Jervis scream'd too; and he said, I'll do you no Harm, if you forbear this Noise; but otherwise take what follows: Instantly he came to the Bed, (for I had crept into it, to Mrs. Jervis, with my Coat on, and my Shoes) and, taking me in his Arms, said, Mrs. Jervis, rise, and just step up Stairs, to keep the Maids from coming down at this Noise; I'll do no Harm to this Rebel."

Here the lovely Nymph is undress'd in her Bed Chamber, without Reserve, and doing a Hundred little Actions, which every one's Fancy must help him to form who reads this Passage, and in the Midst of all this, the Squire is introduced: And however she and Mrs. Jervis may endeavour to keep down the Under Petticoat, yet few Youths but would secretly wish to be in the Squire's Place, and naturally conclude they would not let the Nymph escape so easily.—Now the[Pg 42] Scene rises, the Colours begin to glow and rise to the Life: p. 75. "I found his Hand in my Bosom, and when my Fright let me know it, I was ready to die; and I sigh'd, and screamed, and fainted away. And still he had his Arms about my Neck; and Mrs. Jervis was about my Feet, and upon my Coat. And all in a cold clammy Sweat was I. Pamela! Pamela! said Mrs. Jervis, as she tells me since, O—h, and gave another Shriek, my poor Pamela is dead for certain!—And so, to be sure I was for a Time; for I knew nothing more of the Matter, one Fit following another, till about three Hours after, as it prov'd to be, I found myself in Bed, and Mrs. Jervis sitting up on one Side, with her Wrapper about her, and Rachel on the other." Feeling of the Breasts, fainting, and dying away, may, in your Opinion, Sir, be Excitements to Virtue, but they are too Virtuous a Description in my Mind for any young untainted Mind to peruse.

Miss after this is ill, and when she had blubber'd, and cried three or four Days, the Squire to bring her to herself, and allure her Fancy, takes care to shew himself to her in all the Advantages of Dress and Finery; p. 81. 'Yesterday he had a rich Suit of Cloaths brought home, which they call a Birth-day Suit.'[Pg 43] Here is the Contraste to Pamela's plain Neatness, he had found that her amiable Figure had caused fresh Emotions in him, and consequently he imagined his must have the same Effect on her. p. 81. 'He had these Cloaths come home, and he try'd them on. And before he pull'd them off, he sent for me, when nobody else was in the Parlor with him: Pamela, said he, you are so neat and so nice in your own Dress, (Alack-a-day, I did'n't know I was!) that you must be a Judge of ours. How are these Cloaths made? Do they fit me? I am no Judge, said I, and please your Honour; but I think they look very fine. His Waistcoat stood an End with Gold Lace, and he look'd very grand.'

And at the same Time that he endeavours to charm her with his own Person, he as artfully allures her with the most fulsome Flattery: p. 83. 'Well, said he, you are an ungrateful Baggage; but I am thinking it would be Pity, with these soft Hands, and that lovely Skin, (as he called it, and took hold of my Hand) that you should again return to hard Work, as you must, if you go to your Father's; and so I would advise her to take a House in London, and let Lodgings to us Members of Parliament, when we come to Town;[Pg 44] and such a pretty Daughter as you may pass for, will always fill her House, and she'll get a great deal of Money.'

This Compliment was a little of the grossest for a fine Gentleman! But the Heightening is still behind: After some little tart Repartees and Sallies aiming at Wit, the Author seems to indulge his Genius with all the Rapture of lascivious Ingenuity: p. 84, 85. 'I wish, said he, (I'am almost ashamed to write it, impudent Gentleman) I wish, I had thee as quick another Way, as thou art in thy Repartees.——And he laugh'd, and I snatch'd my Hands from him, and I tripp'd away as fast I could. Ah! thought I marry'd? I'm sure 'tis Time you were married, or at this Rate no honest Maiden ought to live with you!' Here's Virtue encouraged with a Vengeance and the most obscene Idea express'd by a double Entendre, which falls little short of the coarsest Ribaldry; yet Pamela is designed to mend the Taste and Manners of the Times, and instruct and encourage Youth in Virtue; if that were the Case there was no absolute Necessity in my Opinion for the inserting of this Passage. How artfully is the Turn of the Entendre wrought up for the Instruction of both Sexes. The young Gentleman will find the Squir's Wish to be, that his beloved Pamela would quite the cold Air of a[Pg 45] reserved Modesty, immediately yield to his Wishes, and meet him in an amorous Conflict, with all the Vivacity that simple Nature unrestrain'd by Art could inspire. And little Miss, who just begins to sigh and wish for she knows not what, will be encouraged to wish for a Husband, and think a double Entendre strictly virtuous, even tho' it turns upon the Closet Commerce between the Sexes: And should any one intrusted with her Education inform her that she is in the Wrong, or strive to check the rising Passion; may she not pertly answer. Why sure! There's no Harm in it, for Pamela does so; there are several such Things in that good Book, and my Mother recommended me to the reading of it, nay, and the Parson says it is the best Book in the World except the Bible.

Miss Pamela tho' very angry with her Master, yet in some Measure seems to be very fond of excusing him: 'He's very wicked indeed, says she, but then there are others as bad, 'tis Time he was married truely; for he grows so rampant he'll overrun the Parish else, but if he does there are others that will keep him in Countenance; there's Squire Martin he keeps a Seraglio of his own, and has had three Lyings in, it seems, in his House, within these three Months; and several more of my Master's Companions who are as bad as he. Alack[Pg 46] a day! What a World we live in! It is grown more Wonder that Men are resisted than that Women comply.' Indeed Mr. Pamela is very discerning of her Age!

Mrs. Jervis notwithstanding her motherly Goodness, seems still to be Procuress in Ordinary, though indeed she doth not prove so pac'd an One as Mrs. Jewkes doth afterwards; but wou'd any sober Matron after what Attempts have been made before, ever so far comply with the loose Inclinations of her Master as to introduce him into a Closet to overhear a private Conversation and her Charge? But the five Guineas the Squire gave her upon closing her yearly Accounts seem to have soften'd her a little more to his Interest, for in p. 95. she conveys him into the Green Room, where was a Sash Door and a Curtain conveniently that he might both hear and see, tho' Pamela confesses she had reason to remember the last Closet Work.

Her harmless Tattle o'er her Things whilst she was seperating them from those she intended to leave behind her, but added fresh Fuel to the Squire's Flame; and here he first takes Heart to make an Open Declaration of his Love. p. 102, 103. 'He took me up, in a kinder manner, than ever I had known; and he said, Shut the Door, Pamela, and come to me in my Closet:[Pg 47] I want to have a little serious Talk with you. How can I, Sir, said I, how can I? and wrung my Hands! O pray, Sir, let me go out of your Presence, I beseech you. By the God that made me, said he, I'll do you no harm, Shut the Parlour-door, and come to me in my Library. He then went into his Closet, which is his Library, and full of rich Pictures besides; a noble Apartment, tho' called a Closet, and next the private Garden, into which it has a Door that opens. I shut the Parlour-door, as he bid me; but stood at it irresolute. Place some Confidence in me surely, said he, you may, when I have spoken thus solemnly. So I crept towards him with trembling Feet, and my Heart throbing through my Handkerchief. Come in, said he, when I bid you. I did so. Pray, Sir, said I, pity and spare me. I will said he, as I hope to be sav'd. He sat down upon a rich Settee; and took hold of my Hand, and said, Don't doubt me, Pamela. From this Moment I will no more consider you as my Servant; and I desire you'll not use me with Ingratitude for the Kindness I am going to express towards you. This a little embolden'd me; and he said, holding both my Hands in his, You have too much Wit and good Sense not to discover, that I, inspite of my Heart, and all the Pride of it, cannot but love you. Yes, look up to me, my sweet-fac'd[Pg 48] Girl! I must say I love you; and have put on a Behaviour to you, that was much against my Heart, in hopes to frighten you to my Purposes. You see I own it ingenously.'

By this Means he perswades the Maid to stay a Fortnight longer, and then Parson Williams is first introduced: Thinks he if I can debauch this Girl 'tis but marrying her to my Chaplain afterwards, giving him a good Living and all's right; and this he brings in with an Offer of Fifty Guineas. However all will not do and she is to go away when she pleases; upon which melancholy occasion Miss must grow poetical and entertain us with a Ditty.

The Squire's Intrigues, the Author has laid the Scene of himself; which take in his own Words: p. 114, 115. 'Here it is necessary to observe, that the fair Pamela's Trials were not yet over; but the worst of all were yet to come, at a Time when she thought them at an End, and that she was returning to her Father: For when her Master found that her Virtue was not to be subdu'd, and he had in vain tried to conquer his Passion for her, being a Gentleman of Intrigue, he had order'd his Lincolnshire Coachman to bring his travelling Chariot from thence, not caring to trust his Body Coachman, who, with the rest of the Servants, so[Pg 49] greatly lov'd and honour'd the fair Damsel; and having given him Instructions accordingly, and prohibited his other Servants, on Pretence of resenting Pamela's Behaviour, from accompanying her any Part of the Way, he drove her Five Miles on the Way to her Father's; and then turning off, cross'd the Country, and carried her onward towards his Lincolnshire Estate. It is also to be observ'd, that the Messenger of her Letters to her Father, who so often pretended Business that Way, was an Implement in his Master's Hands, and employ'd by him for that Purpose; and who always gave her Letters first to him, and his Master used to open and read them, and then send them on.'

Not to mention the little Occurrences upon the Road, the Chaste Discourse at the Inn, her Interview with Mrs. Jewkes, &c. we now transpose the Scene from Bedfordshire to the Mansion House in Lincolnshire, where the poor Turtle is now coop'd up; and certainly it must be allowed, that the Author has contrived to heighten his Amorous Tale by just Degrees, so as at once to court the Expectation, and raise the glowing Passions 'till it is almost impossible but they must burst forth in a Blaze.

Mrs. Jewkes enters into the Business with all the Assurance of an experienc'd Bawd. It was[Pg 50] contrived that Miss should bait at an Inn upon the Road, kept by her Sister, and there Mrs. Jewkes receives her fair Charge: p. 136. 'The naughty Woman came up to me with an Air of Confidence, and kiss'd me: See, Sister, said she, here's a charming Creature! Would she not tempt the best Lord in the Land to run away with her? O frightful! thought I; here's an Avowal of the Matter at once: I am now gone, that's certain. And so was quite silent and confounded; and seeing no Help for it, (for she would not part with me out of her Sight) I was forc'd to set out with her in the Chariot.'

Her behaviour there was a Piece with the first Onset; p. 137. 'Every now and then she would be staring in my Face, in the Chariot, and squeezing my Hand, and saying, Why you are very pretty, my silent Dear! And once she offer'd to kiss me. But I said, I don't like this Sort of Carriage, Mrs. Jewkes; it is not like two Persons of one Sex. She fell a laughing very confidently, and said, That's prettily said, I vow! Then thou hadst rather be kiss'd by the other Sex? "Isackins, I commend thee for that"!' There are at present, I am sorry to say it, too many who assume the Characters of Women of Mrs. Jewkes's Cast, I mean Lovers of their own Sex, Pamela seems to be acquainted with this, and indeed shews so much Virtue,[Pg 51] that she has no Objection to the Male Sex as too many of her own have.

Pamela begins now to shew her Skill in Intrigue. It is a trite Observation, that Confinement and Restraint will drive a Woman to the most desperate Applications for a Remedy. She is lock'd up, and no Spanish Lady whatever could be closer confined by the most watchful Duenna; but Miss comforts herself that she shall be too hard for them all: p. 157. 'Well, thought I, I hope still, Argus, to be too hard for thee. Now Argus, the Poets say, had an Hundred Eyes, and was made to watch with them all, as she does.' The Parson here is brought upon the Tapis, and instead of the harmless Dove hatching Piety and Affection, he enters into his Patron's Affairs with so much affected Business, as makes him rather a Medlar than a Friend. A fine Complement to the Clergy by the Way!

Mrs. Jewkes takes all Opportunities of insinuating her Master's good Qualities, but especially his Manhood, and Pamela seems as desirous of hearing of them: p. 163. 'Well, well, Lambkin, (which the Foolish often calls me) if I was in his Place, he should not have his Property in you long questionable. Why, what would you do, said I, if you were he?——[Pg 52]Not stand shill-I, shall-I, as he does; but put you and himself both out of your Pain.'

After a long Series of Intrigue carried on between her and the Parson, to no Purpose, but to swell the Grain of Mustard Seed to Two Volumes, a Swiss is introduced as an Assistant Guard, and Miss then begins to dream: p. 221. 'I dream'd they were both coming to my Bed-side, with the worst Designs; and I jump'd out of Bed in my Sleep, and frighted Mrs. Jewkes; 'till, waking with the Terror, I told her my Dream: And the wicked Creature only laughed, and said, All I fear'd was but a Dream, as well as that; and when it was over, and I was well awake, I should laugh at it as such!' These Words tho' spoke by Mrs. Jewkes in the Character of an abandon'd Profligate, yet can be of no Service to Youth, who may take the latter Part only, and be apt to conclude, that all Virtue is but a Dream; and certainly they were much better omitted than put in.

Well at Length the Squire arrives in his Fine Chariot, and now the Trenches are open'd again, and the amorous War is pursued with more Vigour than ever; p. 247, 248. 'When he had supp'd, he stood up, and said, O how happy for you it is, that you can at Will, thus make your speaking Eyes overflow in this manner,[Pg 53] without losing any of their Brilliancy! You have been told, I suppose, that you are most beautiful in your Tears!—Did you ever, said he to her, (who all this while was standing in one Corner of the Parlour) see a more charming Creature than this? Is it to be wonder'd at, that I demean myself thus to take Notice of her!—See, said he, and took the Glass with one Hand, and turn'd me round with the other, What a Shape! what a Neck! what a Hand! and what a Bloom in that lovely Face!——But who can describe the Tricks and Artifices, that lie lurking in her little, plotting, guileful Heart! 'Tis no Wonder the poor Parson was infatuated with her——I blame him less than I do her; for who could expect such Artifice in so young a Sorceress! Come hither, Hussy, said he; you and I have a dreadful Reckoning to make. Why don't you come, when I bid you?—Fie upon it! Mrs. Pamela, said she, what! Not stir, when his Honour commands you to come to him!——Who knows but his Goodness will forgive you? He came to me, (for I had no Power to stir) and put his Arms about my Neck, and would kiss me; and said, Well, Mrs. Jewkes, if it were not for the Thought of this cursed Parson, I believe in my Heart, so great is my Weakness, that I could yet forgive this intriguing little Slut, and take her to my Bosom. O, said the Sycophant, you are[Pg 54] very good, Sir, very forgiving, indeed!—But come, added the profligate Wretch, I hope you will be so good, as to take her to your Bosom; and that, by to-morrow Morning, you'll bring her to a better Sense of her Duty!

Then follows a Proposal at large to induce her to commence a kept Mistress: The Particulars of which, the Author hath fully set forth, in order to instruct the young Gentlemen of Fortune how to proceed in such a Case, and that young Girls of small Fortunes may see what tempting Things they have to trust to. 'Tis true he makes her refuse it, but with an Insinuation that the Offers are very advantageous.

Next follows the grand Coup d'Eclat: A Scene so finely work'd up, that the warmest Imagination could scarcely form one more prevalent in the Cause of Vice. 'Tis true, the Sentences are artfully wrapt up, but whether the Ideas divested of their Tinsel Trappings and Coverings are too gross to entertain, much less capable of instructing the Youth of either Sex: Take the Author's own Words, and let the impartial World determine, at least, let every Father or Mother of a Family read them, and seriously say, whether they ought for the Sake of this and the foregoing Quotations, to receive Pamela into the Closets of their Children, or condemn it[Pg 55] to the Flames, with the most lustful Pieces that ever appeared in Print? The Squire after forming a Pretence of going into the Country further for a Day or two, by the Assistance of Mrs. Jewkes, (who contrives to make Nan her fellow Guard, drunk) is convey'd into the Room in the Disguise of the Maid, she patiently sits, and sees the lovely Creature undress herself, &c. but take her own modest Relation as follows: p. 270, 271, 272, 273, 274. 'So I looked into the Closets, and kneeled down, as I used to do, to say my Prayers, and this with my under Cloaths, all undrest; and passed by the poor sleeping Wench, as I thought, in my Return. But, Oh! little did I think, it was my wicked, wicked Master in a Gown and Petticoat of hers, and her Apron over his Face and Shoulders. Mrs. Jewkes by this Time, was got to-bed, on the further Side, as she used to be; and, to make room for the Maid, when she should awake, I got into Bed, and lay close to her. And I said, Where are the Keys? tho', said I, I am not so much afraid to-Night. Here, said the wicked Woman, put your Arm under mine, and you shall find them about my Wrist, as they used to be. So I did, and the abominable Designer held my Hand with her Right Hand, as my Right Arm was under her Left. In less than a quarter of an Hour, I said, There's poor Nan awake; I hear her stir. Let[Pg 56] us go to sleep, said she, and not mind her; She'll come to bed, when she's quite awake. Poor Soul! said I, I'll warrant she'll have the Head-ach finely to-morrow for it! Be silent said she, and go to sleep; you keep me awake; and I never found you in so talkative a Humour in my Life. Don't chide me, said I; I will say but one Thing more: Do you think Nan could hear me talk of my Master's Offers? No, no, said she; she was dead asleep. I'm glad of that, said I; because I would not expose my Master to his common Servants, and I knew you were no Stranger to his fine Articles. Said she, I think they were fine Articles, and you were bewitch'd you did not close in with them: But let us go to sleep. So I was silent; and the pretended Nan (O wicked base villainous Designer! What a Plot, what an unexpected Plot, was this!) seem'd to be awaking; and Mrs. Jewkes, abhorred Creature! said, Come, Nan!—What, are you awake at last? Prithee come to-bed; for Mrs. Pamela is in a talking Fit, and wont go to sleep one while. At that the pretended She came to the Bed-side; and sitting down in a Chair, where the Curtain hid her, began to undress. Said I, poor Mrs. Ann, I warrant your Head aches most sadly! How do you do?—She answered not one Word. Said the superlatively wicked Woman, You know I have order'd[Pg 57] her not to answer you. And this Plot, to be sure, was laid when she gave her these Orders, the Night before. I heard her, as I thought, breathe all quick and short: Indeed, said I, Mrs. Jewkes, the poor Maid is not well. What ails you, Mrs. Ann? And still no Answer was made. But, I tremble to relate it! the pretended She came into Bed; but quiver'd like an Aspen-leaf; and I, poor Fool that I was! pitied her much.——But well might the barbarous Deceiver tremble at his vile Dissimulation, and base Designs. What Words shall I find, my dear Mother, (for my Father should not see this shocking Part) to describe the rest, and my Confusion, when the guilty Wretch took my left Arm, and laid it under his Neck, as the vile Procuress held my Right; and then he clasp'd me round my Waist! Said I, Is the Wench mad! Why, how now Confidence? thinking still it had been Nan. But he kissed me with frightful Vehemence; and then his Voice broke upon me like a Clap of Thunder. Now, Pamela, said he, is the dreadful Time of Reckoning come, that I have threaten'd.——I scream'd out in such a Manner, as never any Body heard the like. But there was no body to help me: And both my Hands were secured, as I said. Sure never poor Soul was in such Agonies as I. Wicked Man! said I; wicked, abominable Woman! O God! my[Pg 58] God! this Time, this one Time! deliver me from this Distress! or strike me dead this Moment. And then I scream'd again and again. Says he, One Word with you, Pamela; one Word hear me but; and hitherto you see I offer nothing to you. Is this nothing, said I, to be in Bed here? To hold my Hands between you? I will hear, if you will instantly leave the Bed, and take this villainous Woman from me. Said she, (O Disgrace of Womankind!) What you do, Sir, do; don't stand dilly-dallying. She cannot exclaim worse than she has done. And she'll be quieter when she knows the worst. Silence! Said he to her; I must say one Word to you, Pamela; it is this: You see, now you are in my Power!——You cannot get from me, nor help yourself: Yet have I not offer'd any Thing amiss to you. But if you resolve not to comply with my Proposals, I will not lose this Opportunity: If you do I will yet leave you. O Sir, said I, leave me, leave me but, and I will do any Thing I ought to do. Swear then to me, said he, that you will accept my Proposals!—And then (for this was all detestable Grimace) he put his Hand in my Bosom. With Struggling, Fright, Terror, I fainted away quite, and did not come to myself soon; so that they both, from the cold Sweats that I was in, thought me dying—And I remember no more, than that, when, with great Difficulty,[Pg 59] they brought me to myself, she was sitting on one side of the Bed, with her Cloaths on; and and he on the other with his, and in his Gown and Slippers. Your poor Pamela cannot answer for the Liberties taken with her in her deplorable State of Death. And when I saw them there, I sat up in my Bed, without any Regard to what Appearance I made, and nothing about my Neck; and he soothing me, with an Aspect of Pity and Concern, I put my Hand to his Mouth, and said, O tell me, yet tell me not, what I have suffered in this Distress! And I talked quite wild, and knew not what; for to be sure, I was on the Point of Distraction. He most solemnly, and with a bitter Imprecation, vow'd, that he had not offer'd the least Indecency; that he was frighten'd at the terrible manner I was taken with the Fit: That he would desist from his Attempt; and begg'd but to see me easy and quiet, and he would leave me directly, and go to his own Bed. O then, said I, take from me this most wicked Woman, this vile Mrs. Jewkes, as an Earnest that I may believe you! And will you, Sir, said the wicked Wretch, for a Fit or two, give up such an Opportunity as this?—I thought you had known the Sex better.—She is now, you see, quite well again! This I heard; more she might say; but I fainted away once more, at these Words, and at his clasping his Arms about[Pg 60] me again. And when I came a little to myself, I saw him sit there, and the Maid Nan, holding a Smelling-bottle to my Nose, and no Mrs. Jewkes.'

Is this an affecting Incident entirely divested of all loose Images? Will any one in his Senses take upon him to say so? Can any Youth bear the Image of seeing her kneel naked, though at her Prayers, without Emotion: A lewd Scene suits but ill with Religion; and what an inconsistent Mixture of both is this? Her going to Bed, and the proper Posture in which she is laid, may be modest, but I defy the most innocent Virgin to read it in Company without being constrain'd to stifle a Conscious Blush; or in her Closet without causing a Palpitation which must amount to little less than a burning Desire; how then can any thing be said to encourage Virtue, that must infallibly rouse each latent vicious Inclination in the Heart? Breathing quick and short;——spreading the Arms, while they are both in Bed together;——clasping round the Waist;—putting his Hand in her Bosom,—struggling—fainting quite away——'till she owns herself that she cannot answer for the Liberties taken with her in that deplorable State of Death. These are Images which I think no Youth can read without Emotion, and yet I'm afraid are such as they will chuse to converse with rather than any in the Book. For here the blooming Nymph, the long[Pg 61] desired Object of the eager Lover's Passion, lies naked, defenceless and exposed in Bed, he rushes on her with all the glowing Ardour of an ungoverned Passion, and tho' the Author has with much ado just saved her from Ravishment, yet 'tis with the greatest Difficulty, and that too with a plain Confirmation, that all Liberties were taken but the last: And even that Mrs. Jewkes is made to upbraid him for, as one that ought to know the Sex better. However, had it ended here, we had been deprived of another Volume; so that at all Events she must be saved a little longer, and the poor Squire withdraws shaking his Ears like a Dog that has burnt his Tail.

He had tried Force long enough; in order therefore to spin out the Narration, he must take another Method, and try what artful Insinuations and Perswasions would do: p. 280. 'After walking about, he lead me into a little Alcove—He began to be very teizing, and made me sit on his Knee, and was so often kissing me, that I said, Sir, I don't like to be here at all, I assure you. Indeed you make me afraid!—And what made me the more so, was that he once said to Mrs. Jewkes, and did not think I heard him.—Said he, I will try once more; but I have begun wrong. For I see Terror does but add to her Frost; but she is a charming Girl, and may be thaw'd by Kindness; and I should have[Pg 62] melted her by Love, instead of freezing her by Fear.'

This leads us on to Soothings and Blandishments, till he forms a Trap wherein he is caught himself, and forms an Introduction for fresh Characters; but even amidst all he can't forbear now and then breaking partly tending to the Obscene; for he supposes that had not Pamela been with him, she might have been Wife to some Plough Boy. And upon her answering that had it been so, she should have been content, he replies (V. II. p. 18.) intimating that the whole Manor must be at the Lord's Command. In p. 20. poor Pamela is to be press'd to Death; p. 21. he stoops to enquire where she garters, and wants to examine her Knees. Which by the Way shews the Squire to be a little ignorant, or certainly by seeing her undress twice he might have known.

After a great Deal of Chitchat and Courtship, we are last arrived at the fixing of the last Holy Rite:—But to shew our Author's Inclination for a Joke (for he must doubtless be a very Merry Man) he makes Honest Sir Simon Darnford praise her Fingers, and laughing tells her they were made to touch any Key: The fluttering Heart before Marriage is prettily described, Lady Davers's Passion tho' a little too violent, and carried to the very highest Extravagance of Nature, affords us Matter[Pg 63] of Diversion, as does her running a Race with Collbrand of Laughter.——Pamela herself in p. 167, tells us, she shan't sleep a Wink the first Night, but concludes with this comfortable Reflection, that she supposes all young Maidens are the same; and therefore very prudently resolves to undergo it. But in order to encourage her the Squire desires Good Mrs. Jewkes (who is now her chief Favourite) to entertain her with some pleasant Stories, suitable to the Occasion. And his desiring to spoil the pretty Waist of his Pamela, p. 216, so far from making half the Women in England hurt themselves by Strait-lacing, that I am of Opinion, most of them assisted by that and some other foregoing Passages, wou'd rather endeavour to enlarge themselves in that Part, than decrease it. Nor do Mr. Longman or Mrs. Jervis seem to be of a contrary Opinion to the Squire, but both facetiously drink a Bumper to the Hans in Kelder.

Thus, Sir, thro' a Series of Intrigue interwoven with Amorous Incidents have we traced the Lovely Pamela from the Servant Maid to the Mistress of the Mansion House, and as I think I have marked out several Passages, that tend only to inflame without any View at all to Instruction, that the Images they present are so far from being innocent, they could not be stronger invented, or more naturally expressed, to excite Lasciviousness in the Minds of the Youth of both Sexes. I[Pg 64] shall conclude at present, hoping that in your next Edition you will either amend them or entirely strike them out; not that I have pointed all that I think exceptionable, as it would be too long for a Thing of this Kind, and am of Opinion that there are Faults enough of different Sorts, which may possibly be the Subject of a Second Epistle: In the mean time, let me address myself in the most earnest Manner to those of maturer Years, who may chance to be your Readears, that they would weigh what Virtue is, and how much these amorous Expressions may tend to corrupt their Children, before they suffer them to peruse it, nor be led away by the slight Viel of a few Religious Sentiments, which are thinly spread over them, to permit the Youth under their Care to discover the naked Charms of an inflaming Passion, which is too much exposed in almost every Page of this much-admir'd Pamela. I am, SIR,

Your's, &c.

[Pg 65]

NOTES TO PAMELA CENSURED

Title page

The epigraph is from Horace's Odes II. viii. 13-16: "All this but makes sport for Venus (upon my word, it does!) and for the artless Nymphs, and cruel Cupid, ever whetting his fiery darts on blood-stained stone" (Horace: The Odes and Epodes, trans. C. E. Bennett [Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press, Loeb Classics, 1952], p. 127).

Title page

Little is known about James Roberts, the bookseller (see Henry R. Plomer, A Dictionary of the Printers and Booksellers Who Were at Work in England, Scotland and Ireland from 1668 to 1725, ed. Arundell Esdaile [Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1922], p. 255). Undoubtedly familiar with Richardson, Roberts sold the Weekly Miscellany, which Richardson printed during the 1730's, and he printed Charles Povey's Virgin in Eden (1741), which like Pamela Censured attacks the morality of Richardson's novel.

Dedication

After recommending Pamela from his pulpit sometime before 6 January 1741, Dr. Benjamin Slocock (1691-1753) earned the undeserved reputation of having been paid by Richardson for this praise (see Eaves and Kimpel, Samuel Richardson, pp. 123-24).

5.1-2

The third (duodecimo) edition of Pamela, published 12 March 1741, is virtually the same in content and collation as the second edition, published less than a month earlier (see William Merritt Sale, Jr., Samuel Richardson: A Bibliographical Record [New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 1936], pp. 18-19).

6.9-8.17

An attack on the various promises made by Richardson on the title page of Pamela.

8.18-12.27

An attack on Pamela's "Preface by the Editor." Concerning these objections, the "Introduction" to Pamela's Conduct in High Life finds fault with the author of Pamela Censured: "I shall pass by[Pg 66] his Contradictions with Regard to the Character he draws of the Editor, or as he will have it Author, who appears in his Party-colour'd Writing a very artful, silly Writer, a Man of fine Sense, and excellent in his Method of conducting the whole Piece, but at the same time vain, ignorant, and incorrect" (I, xiii).

9.26

The "certain Noble Lord" is probably either Sir Arthur Hesilrige or Lord Gainsborough (see McKillop, Samuel Richardson, pp. 27-29).

10.1-3

Quotation from the "Abstract of a second Letter from the Same Gentleman" in the "Introduction to this Second Edition." The "complemental" friend is Aaron Hill.

10.21-12.5

Paraphrase of Richardson's "Preface by the Editor."

12.8

Colley Cibber (1671-1757), the "worthy Gentleman" who then presided over the muses as poet laureate, frequently mentions his own vanity in An Apology for the Life of Mr. Colley Cibber, Comedian (1740).

14.16

Advertised during the spring of 1741, the first French translation of Pamela did not appear until the end of October 1741 (see McKillop, Samuel Richardson, p. 92). Jean Baptiste de Freval, author of "To the Editor of the Piece intitled Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded," probably had at least some hand in this French translation (see Paul Dottin, Samuel Richardson [Paris: Perrin et Cie., 1931], p. 117).

15.2-10

Partially a paraphrase, partially a quotation of "To my worthy Friend, the Editor of Pamela, &c."

15.17-19.2

An attack on the "Introduction to This Second Edition." Aaron Hill is the "Person of distinguish'd Taste and Abilities."

22.22-24

Pamela Censured here refuses to employ Pamela's tactic of including parts of letters to support opinions.[Pg 67]

26.7-13

Quotation from Letter VII.

26.13-25

Pamela's Conduct in High Life brands the remarks on this page "too poor to censure" and "downright silly" (I, xiii).

26.26-28.17

Quotation from Letter XI.

28.22-29.1

This comment, according to Pamela's Conduct in High Life, "is like the Roman Persecution of the Christians, who sewed them in Bears Skins and then baited them. How unfair he is, and how much of the Goat he has in his Constitution are visible" (I, xiii).

29.1-30.27

Quotation from Letter XV. Concerning this passage, Pamela's Conduct in High Life asks: "What is there immodest in this Account, what to excite any Passions but those of Pity for a virtuous young Creature, and Indignation to a tyrannical lewd Man of Fortune? How do the Fright, the Terror, and Apprehensions of a defenceless Virgin kindle Desire? and when they have deprived her of Sense, how can we fairly from the Words of Pamela's Letter gather, that she fell in an indecent Posture?" "The Warmth of Imagination in this virtuous Censurer," continues Pamela's Conduct in High Life, "supplies the rest: He can't suppose that she could possibly fall but as he has painted her, and if the Editor has been defective in CONVEYING THE MOST ARTFUL AND ALLURING AMOROUS IDEAS, if the Letters do not abound with Incidents which must necessarily raise in the unwary Youth that read them EMOTIONS far distant from the PRINCIPLES of VIRTUE. If they are not replete with Images to enflame, the Censurer endeavours to repair the Fault[. H]e, not the Editor, contrives to give an Idea of Pamela's hidden Beauties, and would have you imagine she lies in the most immodest Posture, such a one as Mrs. Jervis thought Things had gone farther, but can this be gathered from Pamela's Account, or is not this virtuous Censurer endeavouring to impress in the Minds of Youth that read his Defence of Modesty and Virtue, Images that may enflame? Was not, says he, the 'Squire very modest to[Pg 68] withdraw? for she lay in such a pretty Posture that Mrs. Jervis thought it was worse. Why did Mrs. Jervis think this from the pretty Posture? Nay, how could she think it from any Posture? when the same Account tells us she and the 'Squire were obliged to burst open the Door, for Mrs. Jervis to get in to her Assistance; Is it not more reasonable for Mrs. Jervis to conclude as she did, from the unruly lawless Passion with which she knew her Master tormented, from the Obstinacy of his Temper, and from the Hopes he might entertain, being Master of a large Fortune, that he might, born up by that, stem the Tide of Justice, and perpetrate the greatest Villainy with Impunity? We are told in the Letters that she fainted away, and fell on the Floor stretch'd at her Length, and as her Gown was caught in, and torn by the Door, she must fall too near it, in whatever Posture, to shew any latent Beauties, but what is there indecent in this Relation? Is there any particular Posture described? Oh, but the Censurer lays her in one which may enflame, you must imagine as lusciously as he does; if the Letter has not discover'd enough, the pious Censurer lends a Hand, and endeavours to surfeit your Sight by lifting the Covering which was left by the Editor, and with the Hand of a boisterous Ravisher takes the Opportunity of Pamela's being in a Swoon to ——" (I, xiv-xv).

30.28

Concerning "whether the 'Squire was not modest," Pamela's Conduct in High Life explains that Mr. B "shews he had some Humanity, and was touch'd with Remorse at the Distress he himself occasioned. This, no doubt the Censurer, who seems as much divested of Humanity as a Stranger to Virtue or even Decency, blames the 'Squire for in his Heart, thinks him a silly Country Booby, a half-paced Sinner, a Milk-sop to be capable of Compassion, and no doubt would gladly have had him gone thorough, that he might have had the Pleasure of imaginary Pimping, and have surfeited his Sight" (I, xv-(xvi)).

31.6-32.19

Concerning this passage, Pamela's Conduct in High Life sums up its argument by saying: "But this unfair Censurer fearing he has not yet warm'd the Imagination of his Readers, lays[Pg 69] Pamela in a Posture, and particularizes her latent charms, p. 31, and then charges his own luxurious Fancy on the Author, as he calls the Editor" (I, [xvi]).

33.1-20

Quotation from Letter XVIII.

33.25-34.13

Quotation from Letter XIX. Concerning this passage, Pamela's Conduct in High Life exclaims: "Pamela talks very rationally to Mrs. Jervis, foresees Consequences, and concludes, she that can't keep her Virtue ought to live in Disgrace. At this our Censurer cries out, Fine Instructions truly!" With this, Pamela's Conduct in High Life makes its parting stab at Pamela Censured: "But it is impossible with Decency to follow this luscious Censurer, really I had scarce Patience to read, and therefore you will not expect me to rake longer in his Dirt. I have written enough to shew you of what Stamp are all the Calumniators of the virtuous Pamela. How sensual and coarse their Ideas, how inhumane their Sentiments, how immoral their Principles, how vile their Endeavours, how unfair their Quotations, how lewd and weak their Remarks" (I. [xvi]).

35.12-29

Quotation from Letter XXIV.

37.2-38.6

Quotation from Letter XXIV.

38.10-25

Quotation from Letter XXIV.

39.12-20

Quotation from Letter XXV.

39.24-40.10

Quotation from Letter XXV.

40.15-41.19

Quotation from Letter XXV.

42.2-17

Quotation from Letter XXV.

42.26-28

Quotation from Letter XXVII.

43.5-16

Quotation from Letter XXVII.

43.20-44.3

Quotation from Letter XXVII.

44.9-17

Quotation from Letter XXVII.[Pg 70]

45.20-46.3

Quotation from Letter XXVII.

46.19-20

Reference to Letter XXIX.

46.26-48.4

Quotation from Letter XXX.

48.17-49.15

Quotation from the narrative break at the end of Letter XXXI.

50.3-13

Quotation from Letter XXXII.

50.15-25

Quotation from Letter XXXII.

51.10-14

Quotation from the journal entry for "TUESDAY and WEDNESDAY," the 6th and 7th days of "Bondage."

51.23-52.2

Quotation from the journal entry for "THURSDAY," the 8th day of "Bondage."

52.7-15

Quotation from the journal entry for "MONDAY, TUESDAY, the 25th and 26th Days of my heavy Restraint."

52.25-54.5

Quotation from the journal entry for "SATURDAY Morning," the 37th day of "Bondage."

55.10-60.4

Quotation from the journal entry for "TUESDAY Night," the 40th day of "Bondage."

61.18-62.2

Quotation from the journal entry for "WEDNESDAY Morning," the 41st day of "Bondage."

62.11-16

References to the journal entry for "SATURDAY, Six o'Clock," the 44th day of "Bondage."

63.2-6

Reference to the journal entry for "WEDNESDAY Evening," the night before Pamela's wedding.

63.10-11

Reference to the journal entry for "SUNDAY, the Fourth Day of my Happiness."