'*The  Italian  ethics  ore  the  most  singular  ever
met  with.  The  perversion,  not  only  of  action,  but
of  reasoning,  is  singular  in  the  women.  It  is  not
that  they  do  not  consider  the  thing  itself  as  wront
and  very  wrong,  but  love  (the  tetUimmU  of  love)  is
not  merely  an  excuse  for  it,  but  makes  it  an  acUuU
virtue,  provided  it  is  disinterested,  and  not  a  caprice^
and  is  confined  to  one  object.  They  have  awful  no-
tions of  constancy ;  for  I  have  seen  some  ancient
figures  of  eighty  pointed  out  as  amorosi  of  forty,
flfty,  and  sixty  years'  standing.  I  can't  say  I  have
ever  seen  a  husband  and  wife  so  coupled.
"Ever,  &c

<  P.  S.  Marianna,  to  whom  I  have  just  translated
what  I  have  written  on  our  subject  to  you,  says—
'  If  you  loved  me  thoroughly,  you  wouldf  not  nutko
so  many  fine  reflections,  whicn  are  only  good  for^
&trn  t' scafT^i,'— that  is,  *to  clean  shoes  withal,'^— a
Venetian  proverb  of  appreciation,  which  is  applioa*
cable  to  reasoning  of  all  kinds."


LETTER  CCCXXV.
TO  XB.  VVRBAT.
"Veiile«,Mifeha,M17.
