 The eight letters function like chapters and take the reader through the argument, which starts with the origins of sympathy, and end with the application of the theory developed to social, legal and political reform. Although the format is epistolary, there is no question that these are not real letters but chapters of a short treatise. The argument sustained throughout the text and the addresses to C*** at the beginning and at the end serve as transition passages from one part of the argument to the other.