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. _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 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! R