descended, PAMELA. I am, Sir,

_Your most Obedient,
and Faithful Servant,_

J. B. D. F.

_To my worthy Friend, the Editor of PAMELA._

_SIR_,

I return the Manuscript of _Pamela_ by the Bearer, which I have read
with a great deal of Pleasure. It is written with that Spirit of Truth
and agreeable Simplicity, which, tho' much wanted, is seldom found in
those Pieces which are calculated for the Entertainment and Instruction
of the Publick. It carries Conviction in every Part of it; and the
Incidents are so natural and interesting, that I have gone hand-in-hand,
and sympathiz'd with the pretty Heroine in all her Sufferings, and been
extremely anxious for her Safety, under the Apprehensions of the bad
Consequences which I expected, every Page, would ensue from the laudable
Resistance she made. I have interested myself in all her Schemes of
Escape; been alternately pleas'd and angry with her in her Restraint;
_pleas'd_ with the little Machinations and Contrivances she set on foot
for her Release, and _angry_ for suffering her Fears to defeat them;
always lamenting, with a most sensible Concern, the Miscarriages of her
Hopes and Projects. In short, the whole is so affecting, that there is
no reading it without uncommon Concern and Emotion. Thus far only as to
the _Entertainment_ it gives.

As to _Instruction_ and _Morality_, the Piece is full of both. It shews
Virtue in the strongest Light, and renders the Practice of it amiable
and lovely. The beautiful Sufferer keeps it ever in her View, without
the least Ostentation, or Pride; she has it so strongly implanted in
her, that thro' the whole Course of her Sufferings, she does not so much
as hesitate once, whether she shall sacrifice it to Liberty and
Ambition, or not; but, as if there were no other way to free and save
herself, carries on a determin'd Purpose to persevere in her Innocence,
and wade with it throughout all Difficulties and Temptations, or perish
under them. [_del._ 8th] {It is an astonishing Matter, and well worth
our most serious Consideration, that a young beautiful Girl, in the low
Scene of Life and Circumstance in which Fortune placed her, without the
Advantage of a Friend capable to relieve and protect her, or any other
Education than what occurr'd to her from her own Observation and little
Reading, in the Course of her Attendance on her excellent Mistress and
Benefactress, could, after having a Taste of Ease and Plenty in a higher