Richardson, Samuel (bap. 1689, d. 1761)

Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded.

London

Printed for C. Rivington and J. Osborn

1741 [1740]; continued in 1741

A mother may "prepare the sweet Virgin Soil of [her childrens'] Minds to receive the Seeds of Virtue and Goodness so early, that as they grow up, one need only now a little Pruning, and now a little Watering, to make them the Ornaments and Delights of the Garden of this Life!

This affords me, dear Sir, a pretty Hint: For if ever your charming Billy should be naughty, what would I do, but proclaim throughout your worthy Family, that the little Dear was in Disgrace! And one should shun him, another should decline answering him, a third should say, No, Master, I cannot obey you, till your Mamma is pleas'd with you: A fourth, Who should mind what little Masters bid them do, when little Masters won't mind what their Mamma's say to them? And when the dear little Soul found this, he would come in my Way, and I see (pardon me, my dear Mr. B.) he has some of his Papa's Spirit already, indeed he has! and I will direct myself with double Kindness to your beloved Davers, and to my Miss Goodwin, and take no Notice at all of the dear Creature, if I can help it, till I see his Papa (forgive my Boldness, Sir) banish'd from his little sullen Brow, and all his Mamma rise to his Eyes: And when his musical Tongue shall be unlock'd to own his Fault, and promise Amendment---O then! how shall I clasp him to my Bosom! and Tears of Joy, I know, will meet his Tears of Penitence! ---How these Flights, dear Sir, please a body! ---What Delights have those Mamma's, (which some fashionable Ladies are quite unacquainted with) who can make their dear Babies, and their first Educations, their Entertainment and Diversion! To watch the beamy Dawnings of Reason in them, to direct their little Passions, as they shew themselves, to this or that particular Point of Benefit and Use; and to prepare the sweet Virgin Soil of their Minds to receive the Seeds of Virtue and Goodness so early, that as they grow up, one need only now a little Pruning, and now a little Watering, to make them the Ornaments and Delights of the Garden of this Life! And then their pretty Ways, their fond and grateful Endearments, some new Beauty every Day rising to Observation---O my dearest Mr. B. whose Enjoyments and Pleasures are so great, as those of such Mamma's as can bend their Minds, two or three Hours every Day, to the Duties of the Nursery?
(pp. 365-6)

Plant::Soil Plant::Seeds Plant::Watering Plant::Pruning

Reading Maclean's John Locke and English Literature, (1962), p. 37

Over 53 entries in ESTC (1740, 1741, 1742, 1743, 1746, 1754, 1762, 1767, 1771, 1772, 1775, 1776, 1785, 1792, 1794, 1795, 1796, 1797, 1798, 1799). [Richardson published third and fourth volumes in 1741.]

First edition published in two volumes on 6 November, 1740--dated 1741 on the title page. Volumes 3 and 4 were published in December 7, 1741 (this sequel is sometimes called Pamela in her Exalted Condition).

See Samuel Richardson, Pamela: or, Virtue Rewarded. In a Series of Familiar Letters from a Beautiful Young Damsel, to Her Parents: Now First Published in Order to Cultivate the Principles of Virtue and Religion in the Minds of the Youth of Both Sexes. A Narrative Which Has Its Foundation in Truth and Nature: and at the Same Time That It Agreeably Entertains, by a Variety of Curious and Affecting Incidents, Is Intirely Divested of All Those Images, Which, in Too Many Pieces Calculated for Amusement Only, Tend to Inflame the Minds They Should Instruct (London: C. Rivington and J. Robinson, 1740). [Title page says 1741] <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO><Link to first vol. of 3rd edition in ECCO-TCP>

See also Pamela: or, Virtue Rewarded. in a Series of Familiar Letters from a Beautiful Young Damsel to Her Parents: and Afterwards, in Her Exalted Condition, Between Her, and Persons of Figure and Quality, Upon the Most Important and Entertaining Subjects, in Genteel Life. the Third and Fourth Volumes. Publish’d in Order to Cultivate the Principles of Virtue and Religion in the Minds of the Youth of Both Sexes. by the Editor of the Two First. (London: Printed for S. Richardson: and sold by C. Rivington, in St. Paul’s Church-Yard; and J. Osborn, in Pater-Noster Row, [1742] [1741]). <Link to ESTC>

All searching was originally done in Chadwyck Healey's eighteenth-century prose fiction database through Stanford's HDIS interface. Chadwyck-Healey contains electronic texts of the original editions (1740-1741) and the 6th edition (1742).

Lockean Philosophy

03/27/2005