PREFACE BY THE EDITOR.

IFTODIVERT andEntertain, and at the same time toInstruct, andImprove the Minds of theYOUTH ofboth Sexes:

IF to inculcateReligion andMorality in so easy and agreeable a manner, as shall render them equallydelightful andprofitable  to theyounger Class of Readers, as well as worthy of the Attention of Persons ofmaturer Years and Understandings:

IF to set forth in the most exemplary Lights, theParental, theFilial, and theSocial Duties,  and that fromlow tohigh Life:

IF to paintVICE in its proper Colours, to make itdeservedly Odious; and to setVIRTUE in its own amiable Light, to make it trulyLovely:

IF to draw Charactersjustly, and to support themequally:

IF to raise a Distress fromnatural Causes, and to excite Compassion fromproper Motives:

IF to teach the Man ofFortune how to use it; the Man ofPassion how to subdue it; and the Man ofIntrigue, how, gracefully, and with Honour to himself, toreclaim:

IF to givepractical Examples, worthy to be followed in the mostcritical andaffecting Cases, by the  modestVirgin, the  chasteBride, and the  obligingWife:

IF to effect all these good Ends,  in so probable, so natural, solively a manner, as shall engage the Passions of every sensible Reader, and strongly interest them in the edifying Story:

AND all without raising a singleIdea throughout the Whole, that shall shock the exactest Purity, even in those tender Instances where the exactest Purity would be most apprehensive:

IF these  , (embellished with a great Variety of entertaining Incidents) be laudable or worthy Recommendations of any Work, the Editor of the following Letters, which have their Foundation inTruth  andNature, ventures to assert, that all these desirable Ends are obtained  in these Sheets: And as he is therefore confident of the favourable Reception which he boldly bespeaks for this little Work; he thinks anyfurther Preface orApology for it, unnecessary: And the rather for two Reasons, 1st. Because he can Appeal fromhis own Passions, (which have been uncommonlymoved in perusing these engaging Scenes) to the Passions ofEvery one who shall read them with the least Attention: And, in the next place, because anEditor may reasonably be supposed to judge with an Impartiality which is rarely to be met with in anAuthor towards his own Works.

The Editor.

To the Editor of the Piece intitled, PAMELA; or,VIRTUE Rewarded.

Dear SIR,

I have had inexpressible Pleasure in the Perusal of your PAMELA. It intirely answers the Character you give of it in your Preface; nor have you said one Word too much in Commendation of a Piece that has Advantages and Excellencies peculiar to itself. For, besides the beautiful Simplicity of the Style, and a happy Propriety and Clearness of Expression (the Letters being written under the immediate Impression of every Circumstance which occasioned them, and that to those who had a Right to know the fair Writer’s most secret Thoughts) the several Passions of the Mind must, of course, be more affectingly described, and Nature may be traced in her undisguised Inclinations with much more Propriety and Exactness, than can possibly be found in a Detail of Actions long past, which are never recollected with the same Affections, Hopes, and Dreads, with which they were felt when they occurred.

This little Book will infallibly be looked upon as the hitherto much-wanted Standard or Pattern for this Kind of Writing. For it abounds with lively Images and Pictures; with Incidents natural, surprising, and perfectly adapted to the Story; with Circumstances interesting to Persons in common Life, as well as to those in exalted Stations. The greatest Regard is every where paid in it to Decency, and to every Duty of Life: There is a constant Fitness of the Style to the Persons and Characters described; Pleasure and Instructi