During Mr. B's last attempt at rape, Pamela no longer offers up her
prayers "all undrest" (though she does have her underclothes in her
hand), and Mr. B no longer approaches her bed breathing "all quick and
short." Once the attempted rape is over and Pamela awakens from her
faint, she (in the revised version) does not speculate concerning "the
Liberties taken with her in her deplorable State" (Tuesday Night [40th
day of confinement]). Finally, Pamela is now less brazen when led by Mr.
B into the alcove where he proclaims his love. She now prudently
considers that she can safely go there for two reasons: the alcove has
"a passage through it" and Mr. B had already led her there "once without
stopping" (Wednesday Morning [41st day of confinement]).[9]

While Richardson's revisions may seem extensive, they in no respect
remove or change all of the objectionable passages that _Pamela
Censured_ so severely criticizes. A considerable amount of hanky-panky
remains in the last version of _Pamela_. Mr. B, for instance, still
tries to examine Pamela "to her under Petticoat" (Letter XXIV), and he
even gets to grope--though only once--for her breasts (Tuesday Night
[40th day of confinement]). It should not be surprising, however, that
Richardson failed to achieve the "successful" expurgations found in
Victorian bowdlerizations of his novel. While he undoubtedly tried to
clean up his descriptions, Richardson nevertheless had to keep in mind
his novel's artistic integrity (something the bowdlerizers did not do).
In order to show the stages through which a virtuous young woman must
realistically pass when tempted by a physically attractive, though
morally reprehensible young man, Richardson had to describe attempted
rapes and their effects. In so doing, he undoubtedly hoped his readers
would keep in mind the morally unambiguous end of his novel (which,
incidentally, _Pamela Censured_ virtually ignores). Some "warm scenes,"
as a consequence, seem necessary in this novel, and to remove all of
them would, in effect, change _Pamela_ into something radically
different, namely a romance.

Though most of the attack in _Pamela Censured_ simply reflects the
author's prejudice against the sexual implications of realistic
descriptions, the pamphlet occasionally alludes to a further moral
problem, one which has bothered readers since the time of Fielding.
"Instead of being artless and innocent," Pamela seems to have "as much
Knowledge of the Ar