anton and shameless
manner to the eyes of the world.[6]

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 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.