fle 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) 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