Notwithstanding the ridiculous extravagance of the old Romance in many particulars, it seems calculated to produce more favourable effects on the morals of Mankind, than our modern Novels.--If the former did not represent men as they really are, it represented them better; its Heroes were patterns of courage, generosity, truth, humanity, and the most exalted virtues. Its Heroines were distinguished for modesty, delicacy, and the utmost dignity of manners.--The latter [i.e., novels] represent Mankind too much what they are, paint such scenes of pleasure and vice as are unworthy to see the light, and thus in a manner hackney youth in the ways of wickedness, before they are well entered into the World; expose the fair sex in the most wanton and shameless manner to the eyes of the world.[6] Novels tend to "inflame the Passions and corrupt the Heart" of the reader because they treat real life with all its sordid concerns: sex, social status, pride, money, and the like. If the novel describes such matters in a realistic fashion, "warm scenes" will inevitably creep into it. As _Pamela Censured_ complains, men are inflamed by the description of a woman's body, especially when she seems about to be ravished; women are corrupted into believing they can seduce a man into a lucrative marriage without any moral or physical danger. Novels, moreover, are most likely to inflame and corrupt young readers, who lack experience and who are frequently ruled by their passions.[7] To a moral man like Richardson, the criticisms in _Pamela Censured_ must have seemed painfully serious. The pamphlet virtually proclaims his novel a total failure by showing that it tends "to _excite Lasciviousness_"--not "the Principles of VIRTUE and RELIGION"--among its readers. In addition, _Pamela_ is especially pernicious since its title page advertises that it is written for the "YOUTH of BOTH SEXES," precisely those people who--according to _Pamela Censured_--must not read this book. _Pamela Censured_ concludes with an appeal to the author of _Pamela_ to emend or strike out entirely the offending passages from his novel.