Being a non-native speaker, I don´t grasp the meaning of the last sentence in this passage from Henry Fielding´s "Shamela" from 1741:
I have read over the History of Shamela, as it appears in those authentick Copies you favour'd me with, and am very much ashamed of the Character, which I was hastily prevailed on to give that Book. I am equally angry with the pert Jade herself, and with the Author of her Life: For I scarce know yet to whom I chiefly owe an Imposition, which hath been so general, that if Numbers could defend me from Shame, I should have no Reason to apprehend it.
What is meant by "numbers", and what does the last subset "I should have no reason to apprehend it" mean within the context?