Sethos: History or Life Taken from the Private Monuments of Ancient Egypt

-fidence Original: "fiance", completing the word "confiance" from the previous page. to assert that this Work
contains a morality more refined
and more profound than has been seen
yet in any Book of pure
belles Lettres Original: "belles Lettres." In the 18th century, this referred to literature valued for its aesthetic and intellectual quality, such as poetry, drama, and philosophy., or among the number of
those which one might call secular Original: "profanes." In this period, "profane" simply meant non-religious or secular, rather than something disrespectful..

However, as the Author leaves
his Hero a pagan, this History or
this life is concerned absolutely
only with moral virtues.
It is not at all useless to recom-
mend them to men. It is by this means
that one can have, if I dare say so,
a commerce of manners Original: "commerce de mœurs." This refers to a shared ethical understanding or social exchange between different cultures based on common human values. with
Peoples of the most different Reli-
gions. It is by this that within Re-
ligion itself one can maintain hu-
manity and probity, so necessary to the
Public good, in those who have the
misfortune of not being sensitive enough
to motives of another order The author suggests that even if someone is not moved by spiritual or divine commands, they can still be reached through these universal "moral virtues.", and
more important for them. It is by
this, finally, that one can point
out to over-zealous persons,
who appear to despise [moral] virtues