He then returned into his own country, where he resumed his literary labours with new ardour. He there published several works, and regretting, as it appears, that he had written so much in his life with out having been able, till then, to write anything to please the women (perhaps in consecpence of the ha bit which he wore), he determined to make up for lost time, by publishing, one after the other, his Correspondence between two Ladies—his Letters to Lesbia on Epigrams—his Letters on the Fine Arts— and, last',, his Twenty four Letters on Love. These he published in 1796, when the war raged- in all parts of Italy, and when the siege laid by the French to Mantua compelled him to leave it. He retired to Verona, and there formed the most intimate friend ship with the Chevalier Hippollito Pindemonti, not withstanding the disproportion of their age. In 1797, after Mantua had surrendered, he returned there. Though nearly eighty years old, he resumed his labours and his customary manner of life. He began, in 1799, a complete edition of his works, which was finished at Venice, in 24 volumes duode cimo. Arrived at the age of ninety years, he still retained the gaiety and vivacity of his mind, and died the 13th of September 1808, after fifteen days of illness, with the firmness of a philosopher, and the sentiments of a believer. Without giving a list of all his works, or specifying the separate editions, it will be sufficient to refer to them in the order in which they are placed in this last edition.
1. Ragionamenti Filosofici, con Annotazioni. These philosophical discourses, which occupy the two first volumes, form a system of religious morality, in which the author endeavours to exhibit man under all his relations, and in all stater, following the or der of the sacred writings, and treating, first, of man as created,—as reasonable,—as lord of the other creatures,—and in all the different states of solitude, society, innocence, error repentance, &c. lie only finished ten of these discourses. The notes are themselves little philosophical treatises,—On Beau ty in general,—On Beauty of Expression,—On Phy siognomy, &c.
2. Dell' Entusiasmo delle Belle Arti, 2 volumes, in three parts, of which the last is an appendix to the two others, and treats of the history of enthu siasm in different nations, and the influence which climates, governments, and all the modifications of society, have had on enthusiasm. In the two first parts, the author, who was not very subject to enthu siasm, sometimes writes a little obscurely on it, be comes turgid when he endeavours to be sublime, and remains a stranger to the warmth which he affects.
4. Risorgimento negli Studj, nelle Arti e ne' Cos• tumi dopo d Mille, 3 volumes ; a work regarded in Italy as superficial, but which, nevertheless, contains some enlightened sentiments, and in which facts are often presented under a philosophical point of view, which wants neither novelty nor justness.
5. Delk Lettere e delle Arti Mantouane : Lettere el Arti Modenesi, 1 volume,—almost entirely filled with anecdotes of literary history, tending to the glory of Mantua, the country of the author.
6. Lettere dieci di Virgilio agli Arcadi. 1 vol. These letters, which have been translated into French by M. de Pommereul, Paris, 1778, are, of all the works Bettinelli, that which has made the most noise. They are followed in this volume by I etters from an Englishman to a Venetian, which treat some what vaguely on different topics of literature.
7. Italian Letters from a Lady to her Friend on the Fine Arts, and Letters from a Friend, copied from the Originals, 3 vols. of which the letters on the fine arts occupy only the first.
8. Poetry, 3 volumes, containing seven small poems, sixteen epistles in easy verse, sonnets, canzonets, &c. Without ever showing himself a great poet, the author is always elegant and ingenious. These three volumes are preceded by a well-written dia. course on Italian poetry. Several of the epistles and smaller poems are seasoned with attic salt. Such is the poem in four cantos entitled, Le Rac calte, in which Bettinelli very happily turns late dicule those insipid collections of verses, which, in his time, appeared on every occasion in Italy.
9. Tragedies, 2 vols. These tragedies are Xerxes, Jonathan, Demetrius Polidreetes, and Rome Delikler ed, a translation from Voltaire. Prefixed to them are some letters written in French, and a discourse in Italian, on the Italian tragedy. Some letters on tragedy, among others one on the tragedies of Alfieri, follow ; and the second of these two volumes con cludes with an eulogy on Father Granelli, a Jesuit, a preacher, and a poet, author of some tragedies, which are in much esteem, particularly for the ele gance and beauty of the style.
10. Lettre a Lesbia Cidonia copra gli Epigrammi, 2 vols. consisting of twenty-five letters, intermixed with epigrams, madrigals, and other light pieces, translated and original.