Alessandro Manzoni, count, an Italian novelist, born in Milan, March 8, 1784, died there, May 22, 1873. His father possessed little cultivation; his mother was a daughter of the distinguished philosophical economist Becca-ria. He studied first at Milan and afterward at Pavia, where he was an enthusiast for Al-fieri, Monti, and Foscolo. In 1805 he went with his mother to Paris. The sudden death of a friend furnished the subject of his first poem, in blank verse, entitled In morte di Carlo Imbonati (Paris, 1806). Returning to Milan in 1807, he married in the following year the daughter of a banker of Geneva, and published in 1809 his mythological poem Urania. His education and residence in Paris had led him to imbibe skeptical opinions, and his wife belonged to the Calvinistic church; but both now became devout Roman Catholics. The change was announced by his Inni sacri (Milan, 1810), a collection of religious lyrics. In 1820 appeared his romantic tragedy II conte di Car-magnola, dedicated to Fauriel, which violated the unities of time and place, but was remarkable for its simplicity of plot and purity of style. It attracted attention throughout Europe, was severely criticised, was admired by Goethe, and was defended by the author in a letter written in French Sur Vunite de temps et de lieu.

It was followed in 1823 by another tragedy, Adelehi; and on occasion of the death of Napoleon, he published an ode, II cinque Maggio (1821), one of the finest modern Italian lyrics, in which he highly extolled the emperor. His greatest success was achieved by the novel Ipromessi sposi (3 vols., 1827), a Milanese story of the 17th century, which was translated into the principal languages of Europe,' and was republished in America under the title of " The Betrothed Lovers." In an illustrated edition (1842), he added to the original text a Storia della colonna infame, in which he gives an account of the executions caused by the popular superstition during the plague of 1630, and touches upon some of the highest questions of social economy. In 1834 he wrote 0a-servazioni sulla morale cattolica (Florence), in reply to Sismondi's depreciation of the moral influence of the Catholic church in the middle ases; it was translated into English (London, 1836). He married a second time in 1833, and was afflicted by the death of all his children (including a daughter married to Massimo d'Aze-gho), the last dying a few weeks before him In February, 1860, he was named senator of Italy. His 80th birthday was celebrated with much enthusiasm by his countrymen in 1864. In 1868, with R. Bonghi, he prepared a report on the means of establishing the unity of the Italian language on the basis of the Florentine dialect.

Almost to the day of his death he was engaged in the preparation of a " History of the French Revolution." At his funeral the highest honors were paid to his memory, and the royal princes were among his pallbearers. The chapter of the Prussian order pour le merite which had been conferred upon Manzoni was in 1874 given to Carlyle.