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Mar of the Republic op San Marino to face page 270
A
FREAK OF FREEDOM.
CHAPTER I.
SAN MARINO AS IT IS.
Allor che il sole i primi raggi vibra
DalT Oriente, e impallidir fa gli astri,
Tu vedi biancheggiar di vivo lume
L'alto Titano, ove lo stanco piede
Eaccolse libertade, e s'ebbe norne
Dal suo Divin Marin. G. Paggetti.
Situated at a distance of about twelve miles
from the Adriatic at Rimini, the volcanic rock
which forms the nucleus of the small Republic
of San Marino has overlooked a great high-
road of nations for centuries. The ' via
Emilia ' of Roman days is now succeeded by
the railroad from Bologna to Brindisi ; and
though the traveller on the great overland
2 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
route to India may frequently have seen, and
may frequently have heard of this small
republic, yet the phases which this mountain
lias passed through in history are comparatively
unknown to those who pass so near, and though
slightly affecting the destinies of the world
around it, San Marino has shown a constancy
to the motto of ' liberty,' which cannot fail to
contrast favourably with all other Italian com-
munities, which centuries ago succumbed to
tyranny and oppression.
A comprehensive description of San Marino
is conlani ed jn the following euphon i ous It alian
d efinition, 'This Bepublic is a mole on the
cheek of a fair lad v. ' Nurtured and matured
in the centre of everything that was Ital ian,
yet now that Italy is itself no more but the
vast sarcopha gus f its former greatnesj -^the
Republic of San Marino alone remains to us as
a specim en of those constitutions which formed
the mediaeval greatness of Florence and Venice,
an idiosyncras y in history, which through it s
insignificance has baffled the storms of ecu-
THE REPUBLIC OP SAN MARINO. 6
turies, and through its internal administration
has overcome the vices which formed the ruin
of its more powerful contemporaries.
It is like an echo of ages long gone by, to
the traveller who visits this wild rock, to hear
men anxiously discussing the qualities of the
newly imported ' podesta ; ' whilst to read the
decisions of the ' Council of Twelve ' brings back
memories of dark deeds inseparably attached
to the Venetian lagunes, which centuries, like
the silent waters of her own Adriatic, have
long since consigned to oblivion."^ A(>^ 7~ ^Of-
Approached from Rimini, the three towers
of San Marino form a conspicuous outline on
the horizon, and rise abruptly out of a plain
well stocked wdth vineyards, and cornfields
among the most fertile in Italy. The area of
the Republic being only 16 s quare miles, the
traveller is well-nigh under the shadow of the
rock which forms its centre before reaching the
village of Serravalle, which on this side forms
the boundary of the State, and from which a
steep ascent leads to the ' Borgo, the centre of
San Marino's commercial activity.
4 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
To accomplish this ascent carriages are
obliged to seek the assistance of some oxen,
which at once bring ns face to face with one of
the most productive branches of the Eepnblic's
commerce. For the Sammarinesi are extensive
breeders of cattle, and their oxen are much
esteemed for strength, and field labour. On a fair
day in the Borgo several hundred of these oxen,
together with innumerable herds of sheep and
pigs, are exposed for sale. This monthly fair
is indeed a busy day for the Eepublic, every-
thing is life and bustle in the small village
below, whilst the Citta built on the rock above
is doubly sombre, left alone in its lofty solitude
to contemplate the busy hive of bees below,
of which it is, and has been for fifteen centuries,
the centre of government, and the stronghold
of their ever-vaunted liberty.
In the Borgo are found the cellars of San
Marino's wines of considerable reputation, in-
deed, of which Matteo Valli, writing in the seven-
teenth century an account of the Eepublic, says,
' The wines here are so pleasing, pure, grateful,
and good that they have no cause to be jealous
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO.
5
of the clarets of France.' From the caverns
beneath the Borgo, on the hottest clay of summer,
a glass of wine can be got, as cool as if from an
ice-house ; for built under the shelter of the
rock with a northern aspect the Borgo is never
exposed to the midday heat of the sun, which
WINE CART IN THE BORGO.
in winter scarcely ever penetrates it. And
here too is the natural curiosity of a cavern
into which in summer cold air is perpetually
blowing from a crevice in the mountain side,
dangerous, they say, to approach without every
precaution in the way of clothing.
All the elements of a primitive and rural
6 A FREAK OF FREEDOM; OR,
centre of life are here gathered together ; two
miniature '"piazze] with arcades and shops, two
churches, a small inn of no very cleanly appear-
ance, and a theatre, the main boast of which
is a magnificent drop scene representing
'liberty' adorned in a scarcity of apparel, the
head of which is a portrait of the Duchess of
Acquaviva, a benefactress of the State. 1 In the
Borgo the well-to-do merchants have some
tidy little villas, preferring the more active life
down here to the isolation of the ' citta ' above.
In fact, this mercantile village is the only ele-
ment in the Eepublic to remind the traveller
that he is still living in the nineteenth century ;
everything else, constitutions, buildings, and
inhabitants, are the relics of the past, exist in g
in an age which can hardly call them its
contemporaries.
From the Borgo two roads lead to the
' citta,' one of which is steep and rugged, and
abandoned now entirely to pedestrians, for
within the last two years the Eepublic has con-
1 Vide ch. xiv.
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARKNO. 7
structed a good road for carriages, which enters
the town at the other side.
Approaching by the footpath the ascent is
very trying ; but at every step the enchanting
view over the plain and the Adriatic well
repays, the enterprise, and when the ' Porta alia
Rupe ' is reached the traveller is loath to leave
it for the dark streets within. Suffice it to say,
they are long, and gloomy, and on each side
lined by the so-called 'palazzi' of the nobility,
until at length a little 'piazza ' is reached,
where stands a miniature fish market, quietly
reposing in a hole in the wall, for the repub-
licans never think of traffic up here, and are
far too conservative to buy fish elsewhere than
in the Borgo. In fact in this long street, a
druggist and a tobacconist alone seem to be in
request, and these are of a very second-rate
type.
Ascending rapidly by a newly paved street,
the 'Pianello ' — so-called from being the only
level ground in the Citta — is reached. This is
entirely unique in itself. Surrounded on three
sides by the Government offices, namely the
8 A FREAK OF FREEDOM; OK,
Council Hall, the Audience Chambers and the
Law Courts, the Post-Office and clock tower, and
one or two palaces, all of them of small merit
in the artistic line, but from their antiquity
inspiring feelings of respect, if not of admira-
tion. It was with regret I learnt that the
more energetic rulers of to-day purpose putting
a new facade on their Audience Chambers.
In short, as says Auger St. Hippolyte, 'There
exists here in truth no art, or anything which
recalls the vices of great cities, or the corrup-
tion of the smaller ones, behind the immorality
of the great.'
In the centre of this Pianello stands a
handsome statue, presented by the above-
mentioned Duchess of Acquaviva, a white
marble figure representing Liberty, whilst
underneath the whole is one vast reservoir
which provides the inhabitants with a never-
failing supply of water in the driest summer.
Against the wall of the Post-Office, the
standard of weights and measures is posted up,
for the benefit of the inhabitants, and here
everyone who expects a letter must repair at
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO.. 9
the time of the arrival of the post, for a post-
man is not yet an established necessity in our
little State ; and it is only of late years that the
post has arrived as far as this, formerly stop-
ping in the Borgo, whither expectant ' cittadini '
had to descend. Now when the addresses have
been carefully copied in a book, a bell is
rung, and the letters are distributed to those
present on their giving a written receipt,
whilst those who are absent have to wait for
their letters until the following day.
The fourth side of this Pianello is entirely
occupied by a most glorious view over the
fantastic Umbrian Mountains, the country of
Eaphael and Perugino, where, heaped pro-
miscuously against one another, these moun-
tains assume those grotesque forms so often
depicted by these great masters, but so seldom
realised as exact representations of nature.
Here when the sun sets may be seen nine or
ten distinct distances of the Apennines, of
which San Marino is the headland, so to speak,
rising abruptly about 2,300 feet above the
level of the sea. But let us ascend higher to
10 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
the ' Castetto,' from whence a more perfect coup
dml of the neighbourhood may be obtained.
On ascending past the church, the shrine of the
patron saint, the ' Rocca ' or citadel of San
Marino is seen towering high above the rest of
the town, and standing out grandly against the
sky, a bold continuation of the grey tufous
rock on which the city is built, so similar in
colour to the natural fortifications around it,
that it is hard to define where nature ends, and
man's art begins.
A stiff climb brings the traveller to the
portal, the door of which is opened by a
custodian whose hoary locks and tottering step
correspond well with the scene around ; a few
herbs and a good colony of rabbits seem to
occupy more of his attention than the spare
number of prisoners of whom he has the
charge. Close to the gate are shown two
miniature cannons, both in a state of the greatest
decrepitude and neglect, which were bought
in 1824 i ex senatus consulto ' to assist on festive
occasions. The bastions and defences are all
of the most ordinary nature, and hardly merit-
THE EEPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 11
ing the name, if not placed in so naturally
strong a position. It has frequently been
argued in illustration of San Marino's good
behaviour, that the prisons are in so small
request; one traveller alleges that the only
prisoner he there beheld was left in charge of
the gate and garden during the temporary
absence of the gaoler, and on being asked why
he did not take his departure also, he affirmed
that his quarters were far too comfortable.
Be this as it may, the fact seems to be that
only cases of short imprisonment are kept
here, such for instance as occur after a brawl
at any fair, and that a treaty has been entered
into with Italy, by which all malefactors
condemned to a long term of imprisonment in
the galleys are transferred to the care of that
country, and all the horrible dungeons beneath
have lono- since been disused.
Two malefactors were enjoying a temporary
detention here during my visit, one for forgery,
and another for attempted assassination, prior to
their transportation ; ' enjoying ' I say advisedly,
for the large whitewashed cells, fresh air, and
12 A FREAK OF FREEDOM; OR,
lovely view would tempt even the most upright
to a breach of the peace. They arc exhibited
to the public by means of small windows let
into the cell door, through which they can put
their heads, and wish the visitor good-day.
On ascending the tower, the bell is shown
which calls the inhabitants to the general
' arringo ' or public council, and is only rung
on this or some other equally urgent occasion.
But by far the greatest reward for the tedious
ascent is the glorious view, which here com-
prises ridge over ridge of the Apennines into
the dimmest distance on the one side, whilst on
the other extends the plain of Eimini, and the
distant Adriatic which waters it ; beyond this,
on a clear morning at sunrise, the distant peaks
of the Dalmatian mountains appear like a
narrow girdle on the horizon, whilst the waters
of the Adriatic sparkle with the sails of gaudy
fishing smacks lit up by the morning sun.
No better point than this can be taken for
viewing the surrounding countiy. In mid
distance on the side of the Apennines rises San
Marino's twin sister fortress San Leo, where the
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 13
saintly companion of the founder of the Ee-
public established his rival, but not so -durable,
community. The mountains of Carpegna form
a background on the left, overlooking the cradle
of the Montefeltrian family; below, the river,
called after the Eepublic, forms the natural
boundary of San Marino's restricted territory.
The great stone bed of the Marrechia carries
the eye down to the coast on the north, the bed
of a winter torrent, which washes the base of
Verruchio, a stronghold of the Malatesti, the
scene of many a tragedy enacted by that blood-
thirsty race, where Giovanni the Lame slew the
erring Paolo and Francesca da Eimini, as sung
by Dante in his 'Inferno.' The small hamlets
belonging to the Eepublic lie scattered beneath,
Faetano, Mongiardino and the thrifty Borgo ;
whilst in the far distance the eye rests on the
towers of Cesena, and Pesaro, and, if the air
be clear, on Eavenna and the lowlands of the
Comachio. Here imagination may trace the
little Eubicon now hardly discernible in its
marshy bed.
In the dialect of the country this castle is
14 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
called Monte Guaita, from a word gaaitare,
signifying to watch. Two other towers occupy
two separate heights, rejoicing in the names of
Monte Cucco, and Monte Gista ; but they are
towers merely for ornament, and built to keep
up the idea of the three ' pennce ' of San Marino,
which are everywhere depicted, emblazoned on
their money, coats of arms, and flag, and
printed on their stamps, and inseparably
connected with their motto of ' liberty.' This
word unconsciously takes us back to the
ancient Celtic derivative ' Penn ' signifying
something ending in a point. The Alpes
Pennine are now represented by the Apen-
nines, whilst near San Marino the names of
Pcnna Billi, and Penna Eossa, show the same
origin as our Ben Nevis and Penmanmaur. But
nowhere is the feathery termination of a moun-
tain peak more justly appropriate than at San
Marino, as the inhabitants apparently recognize
by surmounting each tower in their coat of arms
with a feather.
During the inclemency of a Sammarinese
winter these steep streets are covered with
THE REPUBLIC OP SAN MAEINO. 15
frost and snow, and the inhabitants take
advantage of the season to indulge themselves
in a species of Canadian ' Toboggning,' which is
here called the ' liscia.' Down the centre of
the main street of the Citta the snow is swept
off two furrows, which then freeze hard ; and
down these small sledges are propelled with
surprising velocity, and, guiding his sledge by
a piece of wood attached, the adventurous
republican is generally accompanied in his
wild career by a female seated on his knee.
In February 1740, Enrico Enriquez, writing
from San Marino, 1 thus graphically describes
the effect of such atmospheric severity on an
inhabitant of the more genial Eoman climate.
' It would be an act of charity to solicit my
liberation from the top of this mountain, where
even the very air one breathes is frozen ; a
truly fine sight to see everything four to five
feet deep in snow, and the roofs so much
covered that I cannot admit to having seen
other walls than those in the interior of my
1 Vide cb. ix.
16 A FREAK OF FREEDOM; OR,
habitation ; the air is always thick, the winds
everywhere prevail, and all is horror.'
On the southern side, where the town is
surrounded by walls, the aspect is more genial,
and the descent into the valley beneath is a
mass of verdure. Here is the principal gate of
the city, where side by side with the arms of
the Eepublic appear those of its early pro-
tectors the Dukes of Urbino, outside which is a
broad promenade called the ' Stradone,' where
the inhabitants enjoy the -favourite Italian game
of ' Pallone,' a species of fives played with
knuckledusters. Our republicans are by no
means without a sense of merriment in their
mountain retreat, nowhere are the privileges
of the first of April more keenly appreciated.
Whosoever on the morning of this day can be
found in bed after sunrise, is liable to be
draped rudely from his couch, and adorned
solely in his nocturnal toilette the wretched
victim is placed on the back of a mule with an
umbrella in his hand, and is conducted up and
down the town, amidst the jangling of bells
and the jeers of his persecutors, until at length
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARINO. 17
lie is allowed to return home to assume a garb
more befitting the inclemency of the season,
and the dictates of propriety ; the gallant
republicans however confine this punishment to
sluggards of the male sex only.
The Citta also contains a miniature theatre,
and a museum at present not rich in antiquities,
but possessing one eminently good picture by
Giulio Romano, representing a holy family
supported by SS. Marino and Agatha ; formerly
this was in the Council Chamber, but now, after
being badly restored, it has been consigned to
the museum, as a centre around which it is
hoped other works of art will congregate.
The Belluzzi College of San Marino has a
considerable local reputation ; it was founded
about two centuries ago, by a member of this
illustrious Sammarinese family.
The nature of the soil all over the Republic
is volcanic, deep gorges of tufa recall the neigh-
bourhood of Vesuvius, and near Mongiardino
much sulphur has been found, but not worked
for want of capital. A good deal of marble,
and many veins of coal and iron are also found,
c
18 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
and excellent building stone, which forms a
part of their restricted commerce. In fact, the
whole country represents a vast upheaval of
nature, to which probably is due the old name
of Mount Titanus, which was not changed till
some time after the saint had established his
community thereon ; though some affirm, that
on this mountain was found a tomb, contain-
ing the skeleton of a giant, a soldier in
Pompey's army, and bearing on it the sole
epitaph ' Titanus.' Be this as it may, this was
the old name of the mountain, and this is still
a favourite name by which to call it, more
especially amongst the Italian eulogistic poets,
who sing the Republic's praises, and they are
not a few.
Having thus given the reader a rapid
glance at San Marino as it is, I purpose to look
into the historical incidents in its career, and
into its customs and constitutions, which it has
retained for so many centuries. The lapse of 250
years has made but little difference since Zuccoli,
writing in the early part of the seventeenth
century, took San Marino as the scene of one of
THE EEPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. ]0
his dialogues, and entitled it '-La Citta Felice,
making a Belluzzi who was then a ' Captain '
of the Eepublic say, ' Our neighbours them-
selves do not clearly know the happiness of this
Eepublic. At a distance, they only know us
by name. Thus obscure to others we live as
celebrities to ourselves, and, whilst others
believe us to be wretched and miserable, we
live content and comfortable together.'
c 2
20 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
CHAPTER II.
LEGENDARY HISTORY OF THE FOUNDATION OF
THE REPUBLIC.
The commonwealth of Marino may boast at least of a nobler
origin than that of Rome ; the one having been at first an
asylum for robbers and murderers, the other of persons eminent
for piety and devotion. — Addison, Travels in Italy.
All history of Marinus, the founder of this
Republic, is shrouded in mystery and legendary
accounts. His life, and the miracles that he
wrought, are written at length in the Book of
the Acts of the Saints, and everything connected
with his existence is as closely interwoven with
the early history of this little state as that of
Romulus was with the origin of Rome. Not
only does the Republic bear his name, but it is
lavishly distributed amongst the inhabitants at
their baptism, and his statue occupies the most
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 21
exalted place in their parish church. I will
here transcribe, with unbiassed pen, the story
of his life, and leave those who read to decide
on the veracity of the same.
Early in the fourth century of the Christian
era, the Emperor Diocletian decided on the
rebuilding and repeopling of the ancient town
of Ariminum, which afforded a good point of
resistance to the impending barbaric invasions,
and for this purpose exhorted all builders and
hewers of stone thither to repair. Actuated
by the spirit of enterprise, two youths set
out on this invitation from the island of Arbi,
on the opposite coast of Dalmatia, Marinus and
Leo by name, ' leaving their parents, and sweet
native fields; both of unbounded piety and
wonderful eloquence and affability.' 1 To carry
out the proposed fortifications the stone cutters
had frequent recourse to Mons Titanus, to seek
for stone where, as now, the products of the
quarries were found to be excellent for building
purposes.
A few years after their arrival Diocletian's
1 Acta Sanctorum die quarta Septembris.
22 A FREAK OF FREEDOM | OR,
intolerant spirit was let loose on the Christians
within his Empire, and the fnry of the persecu-
tion was felt nowhere more severely than at
Ariminum. Marinus, who is described as ' full of
manly vigour,' joined the persecuted Christians
in many of their conflicts against the Emperor's
proconsul and his men, fighting side by side
with the Christian Bishops of Forli and Forlim-
popoli, and not unfrequently putting their
assailants to the rout. At length, weary of
this continued warfare, he and his friend Leo
betook themselves to Mons Titanus, where they
could hew their stones, and exercise their
religion unmolested. They planted a cross on
the summit of the rock, on which was inscribed
the sole word ' liberty,' and hewed themselves
beds beneath it, which are to be seen even now
behind the high altar of a small church devoted
to the purpose of protecting them, uncomfor-
table enough to our eyes, but sufficient for their
limited ideas of luxury. There are those who
maintain that these holes in the rock are merely
lociili, or catacombs ; but the inhabitants of
San Marino are not of this opinion and affirm
THE EEPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 23
the miracles wrought thereby to be not a
few.
Numerous people assembled to hear the
words of the saintly pair, and spread their fame
afar. But other events had yet to occur to
bring Marinus more conspicuously before the
eyes of the world.
One Gaudentius was at this time Bishop o^
Rimini, who, hearing of the virtue and merits
of the two anchorites, summoned them to assist
as deacons in his diocese. So for a time they
left their solitude to mingle in the busy world
of Rimini. About the year 360 a.d. the Chris-
tians were harassed by conflicting schisms, and
a great council was held at Rimini. '400
bishops collected there, of whom but 80 were
Arians ; and the civil officers, to whom the
Emperor Constantius had committed the super-
intendence of their proceedings, had orders
not to let them stir out of the city till they
should agree upon a confession of faith. . . .
Distressed by their long confinement, im-
patient at their absence from their respective
dioceses, and apprehensive of the approach-
24 A FREAK OF FREEDOM; OR,
ing winter they began to waver. Thus
ended the celebrated council the result of
which is well characterized in the lively state-
ment of Jerome, " the whole world groaned in
astonishment to find itself Arian."' 1
Marinus himself took an active part in
these debates ; but his Arian enemies, not con-
tent with meeting him in the open field of
argument, attacked our hermit with the in-
sidious weapon of scandal.
Marcianus, an Arian bishop, so says the
legend, placed a purse in the hands of a woman,
Athleta by name, whose character was not
altogether without reproach ; she, in the public
place of Eimini, before the assembled multitude,
denounced Marinus as her lawful husband,
affirming that she had travelled all the way
from Dalmatia in quest of him. Marinus
refuted the accusation with scorn and treated
his accuser with pious contempt, whilst Athleta
betook herself to the municipal authorities.
Marinus, however, was unwilling to remain
longer at Eimini, and, according to the Acta
1 Newman, The Arians of the Fourth Century.
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 25
Sanctorum, ' was mindful of the text, " when
they may persecute you in one city flee unto
another," and, gathering himself together, fled
to Mount Titanus, and took up his abode in a
cave, where was a spring of water, and saw
not the face of man for twelve months, eat-
ing mountain herbs, and drinking water. The
devil raised up horrid animals to frighten him
at his devotions, but he persisted in his hymns
and songs night and day.'
By chance some swineherds, who were
attending their flocks, discovered his retreat, and
spread the report in Rimini. The injured
Athleta gave the peasants much money to point
out the spot, and thither went in person.
Marinus was in his garden gathering herbs
when she made her appearance, whereupon he
immediately entered his house and locked the
door, imbued with the spirit of S. Anthony, and
continued fasting and prayiug for six days ;
whilst the woman, believing she had been
deceived by the devil, rushed back to Eimini
with great alarm, and was heard of no
more.
26 A FREAK OF FREEDOM | OR,
Our hermit, however, did not abandon his
transactions with the fair sex after this bitter
experience. There chanced to live a certain
Roman widow, by name Felicissima, in the val-
ley behind Mount Titanus. She not only owned
a pleasant house situated in a lovely spot, but
also most of the country around belonged to
her, including the mountain, and her two sons
served iii the Emperor's guard. When once on
a visit to their mother these two youths heard
of the wonders wrought by Marinus, they
forthwith set off, bow in hand, to rid the neigh-
bourhood of so doubtful a character. Clamber-
ing up the mountain sides they came in sight of
the hermit, when one of them, called Verissimo,
stretched out his hand to shoot, and lo ! his arm
remained fixed so that he could not move it ;
terrified, they left Marinus in peace, and returned
home. Felicissima, on seeing what had hap-
pened to her son, sent for the hermit to cure the
injury he had caused ; but before entering the
house Marinus threw down all the images of
Apollo and other gods, and then quietly pro-
ceeded to work his counter miracle, and re-
THE REPUBLIC OP SAN MARINO. 27
ceived the blessings of the mother. Felicissima
and her sons became converted on the spot,
and the widow presented Marhms with his
favourite mountain on which to form his
community.
Here we have the legendary origin of the
Eepublic, as it stands. Felicissima is now
sanctified, and a small farm-house, belonging to
the Franciscan Convent, professes to be built on
the spot where once her villa stood, and the
chimney-piece therein, which, by the way, differs
little from those in the surrounding cottages, is
said to date from her time, and consequently to
work many miracles. At all events, a pilgrim-
age to her house would well repay the traveller,
with the view that he there gets down the fertile
valley of San Marino, and over the walls and
towers which rise above him.
Marinus, it appears, frequently left his soli-
tude to repair to the diocese in which he was
deacon. One day on returning home, he
found a bear had eaten his donkey. Nothing
daunted he confronted the animal, and obliged
it to assume the harness of the donkey and
28 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
fulfil the menial duties of the domestic animal
which it had eaten.
Meanwhile, after the Arian demonstration at
Rimini, the orthodox few repaired to a spot a
few miles distant from that town, and there
established a small town, which still bears the
name of ' La Cattolica,' and now has a small
station on the Brindisi line. Some, however,
preferred to retire to Mount Titanus with their
wives and families, and founded a religious
community under the superintendence of Mari-
nus. This community, however, was not based
on the rules of monasticism ; Marinus was no
celibate, and encouraged matrimony amongst
his followers ; whether he himself ever entered
into that state, recognizing the claim of Athleta,
or eventually marrying the wealthy Felicissima,
we are not told. At all events, the widow's
name is often mentioned as assisting Marinus
in his works of piety. His old fellow hermit,
on the contrary, was raised to the episcopal
dignity, and w r ent with his followers to the
neighbouring rock of Mons Feretri, where was
an ancient temple to Jupiter Feretrius. Here
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 29
Leo established a purely ecclesiastical com-
munity, which soou became merged in the
country of the Montefeltri, a family whose name
is taken from this spot, a name inseparably con-
nected with San Marino during the middle ages.
San Leo was one of their most impregnable for-
tresses, and we shall frequently be brought into
connection with it as the seat of the Bishops
of Feltria, the dread of the inhabitants of San
Marino during many succeeding centuries. An
excellent description of these twin fortresses
is given by Benvenuto da Imola in his com-
mentary on Dante's line :
Yassi in San Leo descendesi in Nola.
Purr/, cant, iv., v. 25.
' San Leo is a city of Eomagna in Monte
Feltro, which at the time of our poet was
most desolate, and is now even more so. It
is situated on an extremely high mountain,
and surrounded on all sides by a very moun-
tainous country; hence corn, and all things
necessary to sustain human life, are collected
within the fortifications. So also is the castle
of San Marino most strongly aud ably fortified
30 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
by nature, about 4 miles distant from San Leo
and 10 from Rimini (sic,) Hence Dante's simile is
most apt; for his city of Purgatory resembles San
Leo inasmuch as it is situated on a most lofty
mountain, and only thinly populated, and, like
San Leo, it is very strong, and free from
treacherous assaults of an enemy.'
Mariuus eventually died under the shadow
of his adopted rock, and surrounded by his
prosperous colony, to whom he had ad-
ministered wise laws, and to whom his last
dying words are reported to have been, ' I leave
you. free from all men.' He had refused to be
raised to the dignity of a bishop like his
colleague Leo, and was content to remain in
deacon's orders. His body was buried on
Mount Titanus, but was not suffered to rest long
in peace; for in the year 752 a.d. Astolphus, king
of the Lombards, carried it off to Pavia, where
the Church of S. Michele still claims its pos-
session, whereas the republicans say it was
carefully restored to them by Pepin le Bref
and is enclosed in a sarcophagus beneath the
altar of his church. Every fourth of September
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 31
is a day held sacred to his memory, when, again
to quote the Acta Sanctorum, ' the venerable
treasure of his head is exposed to the admira-
tion, no less than the veneration, of the public.
For lo ! it is seen preserved through centuries
from corruption, with some teeth, which, through
the life-like brightness of the gums which join
them, fall little short of the teeth of living
people.'
Numerous are the inducements for the
inhabitants of the Eepublic to bear in mind the
history of their saint. Over the portal of their
parish church is written, in large letters, this
inscription :
Divo Marino, Patrono et Libertatis Auctori, S.P.R.Q.
Over the high altar a statue of the saint
superintends the devotions of his admirers,
beautifully executed in white marble by
Taddolini of Bologna, a worthy pupil of
Canova's ; he is represented as dressed in his
deacon's robes, with a scroll in his hand in which
is written * Libertas!
The modern parish church is handsome, but
S2
A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
contains nothing worthy of remark ; externally
built after the fashion of a Corinthian Temple,
the Campanile is all that is left of the old edifice,
which was probably amongst the oldest Christian
PARISH CHUECH.
buildings in Italy, dating from 1126, and which
was originally dedicated to S. Peter. The
present building was opened in 1855 by the
Bishop of Montefeltro, who shares with the
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARINO. 33
Bishop of Eimini the spiritual supervision of the
Sammarinesi.
' A l'ombre clu ' nom de son saint patron
protegee par son peu d'importance San Marino
a subsiste jusqu' a nous, et nous montre cette
alliance de la religion et de la liberte qui ftit le
caractere des communes italiennes an xiii e siecle.
Eien ne saurait exprimer plus vivement une telle
alliance que la nouvelle cathedrale de Saint
Marin. Les sept milles habitants qui forment
la population de ce petit etat, et qui pa} T ent un
impot annuel de quatre sous par tete, sont
parvenus a batir de leurs economies une fort
belle eglise qui a coute 150,000 francs.' 1
Around the columns of the church all the
inhabitants are buried, no cemetery having yet
been required ; when the place is full the bones
are removed to a charnel-house, under the front
colonnade, the simple mountaineers believing
that they will rest more secure under the im-
mediate shadow of their country's god.
Great is the veneration in which S. Marino
is held, and the lines for taking his name in
1 Ampere.
D
34 A FREAK OP FREEDOM ; OR,
vain are made higher than those for blasphem-
ing any other saint ; for the wise lawgivers of this
Eepnblic attempt to check the months of those
who wish to swear by a descending scale of
penalties.
Two officials are annually appointed by the
State to see that no harm may happen to any of
the relics of the saint, and are called ' Massarii.'
On the fourth of September the Sammarinesi
hold a grand festa to his honour, when, after
the routine of the morning's Mass, the pro-
cession, and the exposure of the relics have
been successfully concluded, they assemble in a
wide open space called 'La Fratta,' between
two of the towers, a part, says Oreste Brizi,
' reclaimed from the screech-owl by a later
extension of the walls.' Here they indulge
themselves in all kinds of games, shooting and
various gymnastic exercises. These are often
followed by a game, which is happily now said
to be dying out, and only occurs on the day
of the patron saint ; for be their virtues many
in other respects, these Republicans would not
bear the inspection of a committee upon cruelty
THE REPUBLIC OP SAN MARINO. 3-">
to animals. A live cock is procured, and hung
from a piece of wood about nine feet from
the ground. Then each player advances in
turn to a spot marked out, from whence by
a leap he tries to grasp and pull off the bird's
neck ; if he succeeds he wins the cock, and
comes back amidst loud applause, if not he
pays a trifle to the owner, and receives the
hisses of the spectators.
By proceeding outside the walls, many
other points in connection with the legends of
San Marino are brought before the notice of
the curious ; a steep rocky cliff forms one side
of a rounded hill called Montalbo, by climbing
which with the aid of hands and knees, a
curious spot is reached about half-way up,
which is called the garden of S. Marino. Here,
report says, he used to shelter himself from the
winds, and, though bare of vegetation all round,
on this spot may be seen some sprigs of laurel,
which does not grow elsewhere in a like
position ; and over the grotto, where he used to
sleep, hang festoons of ivy, whilst sweet smell-
ing herbs and pinks grow just below. A visit
36 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
to this place is considered as most efficacious in
all cases of fever. Surely it must be accounted
far more miraculous, if an invalid pilgrim
arrives safely at the foot of the treacherous
path, which overlooks a yawning precipice, and
has only a few feet of precarious foothold.
A small hamlet belonging to the Eepublic
has grown up round a well, where the saint
used to ' baptize his converts, springing from
underneath a cliff. The name of the village is
Acqua Viva, which records the fact, and is a
favourite spot for the growth of the S. Giovese
grape, which produces a rich sparkling wine,
one of the best in the locality.
Though S. Marino cannot rival other saints
as a favourite subject for the pencil of Italian
artists, yet there is an excellent picture by
Guercino in the possession of Signor Settimio
Belluzzi in the Borgo, representing our saint
with beautifully flowing hoary locks, dressed
as a deacon, holding in one hand a plan of the
si n nil Eepublic and its towers, whilst in the
other he is o-ivincr the benediction.
The light thrown on this picture, and the
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 37
expression of the face, are amongst the must
effective this master has produced.
A Sammarinese artist has painted a picture,
which hangs under the dais of the throne in the
Council Chamber, representing the founder of
the Republic in the garb of an anchorite, and
pointing to the words, which he has just
chiselled in the rock, ' Eelinquo vos a.b omnibus
liberi.' It is more from the fact that this
picture seems to overlook every action of the
Government than from its artistic merit that it
claims the attention of the visitor.
A vast series of hideous mezzo-tinto pro-
ductions, describing the various incidents in S.
Marino's mythical career, adorn a large room
below, but are fortunately placed too high to
be closely criticized, and the light is bad.
Such is the legendary history of San Marino,
which, thanks to their spiritual advisers, the
Sammarinesi devoutly believe; yet it is im-
possible to help admiring their attachment to
all that is connected with their early founder,
and the liberty which they so dearly prize.
38 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR.
CHAPTEE III.
EARLY GLIMPSES AT SAX MAEINO'S EXISTENCE.
Complex as the history of Italy is throughout,
and divided as it has been into so many and
numerous towns and communities, each with a
history of its own, yet none of which can be
properly understood without reference to the
others, it is refreshing to take up a position
on the rocks of Mount Titanus, from which so
much of the outer world can be contemplated,
whilst the internal history proceeds in as peace-
able a groove as fifteen troublous centuries
would allow.
San Marino has passed quietly through its
phases of a hermitage, a sanctuary, a castle,
and a republic, surrounded on all sides by some
of the most stirring scenes of Italian history.
Situated as it was in the Exarchate of Eavenna,
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 39
and consequently forming part of Pepin's dona-
tion to the Holy See, its early history dates
from those times when the foreign element
brought disasters and calamities into the penin-
sula, before the infant efforts at independence,
built on the dying embers of the Eoman Em-
pire, had time to develope and become mature.
To the early invaders of Italian soil, rocky
desolation like that around Mount Titanus was
no temptation. Whilst the fair cities of the
plains were rifled again and again by barbaric
hordes, these hill-set sanctuaries escaped, owing
to their poverty and insignificance ; and it is
not until the events which arose out of the
Lombard invasion of the Exarchate, that we
find San Marino mentioned in the pages of
history.
For a period of two hundred years Italy
\va ^mequal ly._diyideiLh£tween the kinp;(loirLof
the Lo mbards and the Exarchate of Eavenna,
whilst Borne was degrad ed into a city of the
sej2ond__rank. T he earlier Exarchs gove rned
Italy in th e name of the Eastern Empire with
some degree of power, but after the days of
40 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
Narses their jurisdiction became much limited.
The modern Eomagna, and the marshes and
valleys of Ferrara and Comachio, with a mari-
time Pentapolis as far south as Ancona, and an
inland one which vaguely extended to the
Apennines, formed the nucleus of the Exar-
chate. Some other provinces recognised this
supremacy, whilst the rest of Italy was entirely
under the Lombard rule.
Eomagna, as a name for this district, was
curiously applied, rather to imply the power of
the Holy Eoman Empire, as represented by the
Exarchs, than as later writers would have it,
from its immediate connection with Eome, as
part of the disputed territory given to the
hierarchy. For here the country is far less
Italian than on the western slopes of the Apen-
nines. The Senonian Gauls have left their name
here in Sinigaglia, whilst the Greeks gave a
name to Ancona, and San Marino and San Leo
owe their origin to Dalmatian emigrants ; and
to this day the dialect of Eomagna partakes
more of the brusqueness of the north, for by
leaving out the final syllable of each word, the
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 41
Eomagnan peasant would appear to speak more
of a French than an Italian patois. A Samma-
rinese of to-day will say ' demain ' instead of
' domani ' for ' to-morrow,' with almost a Pari-
sian accent.
When, in a.d. 752, the Lombards under
Astolphus wrested the Exarchate from the
Eastern Empire, a new era was introduced into
Italy, and a series of conflicting elements for
centuries to come. The Popes groan ed in their
Weakness to~sie~tlie aggrandisement of the
Lombard race, and were unable to obtain any
succour from the East, where the Emperor
Constantine Cop ronymus cared li ttle an d could
do less for his Western feudatory. Ste phen II .
was led to call in the aid o f Pepin , and intro -
duce that foreign element so prov e rbially dis as-
trous to the Italian.
The Lombard king Astolphus had deprived
San Marino of the bones of its patron saint,
so esteemed at that time was the worship of
the hermit ; but when conquered by Pepin, he
was obliged' to return them from his Church
of San Michele at Pavia, where they had been
42 A FREAK OF FrvEEDOM ; OR,
deposited, at the same time that the district of
Eomagna was presented to the Holy See. It
appears that in this donation Pepin entirely
ignored the rightful sovereign at Constanti-
o o o
nople, but handed over the conquered Penta-
polis, as says the chronicler of Stephen II., ' to
the Church of Eome, represented by pontiffs,
and to the Eepublic of Rome,' which probably
referred to the local government of the Eternal
City. But this present remained a gift only in
name. Twenty-two towns, including the ' Castel
San Mariano] which from the position can be
none other than our rock, deposited their keys
on the altar of St. Peter ; but the Popes never
enjoyed the sovereignty over these provinces,
over which the Bishops of Eavenna continued
to exercise a nominal sway, whilst each town
exercised its own form of government, without
any exterior interference.
Documents about the existence of San
Marino are about this period exceedingly
scanty. We find a monk, Eugippius, who
lived at San Leo, recording the existence of a
pious man, Basilico, who was one of the inime-
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 48
diate successors of Marinus ; and again, we
read in the life of Stephen II., that San Marino
fought against Astolphus, incorporated as it-
was in the Exarchate. But it is not for two
centuries later that we come across any very
authentic testimony to its existence as a
community.
It was reserved for Charlemagne to free the
Papacy even tually from its dangerous enemies ,
the Lombard chiefs. The great Prankish Em -
peror received his diadem from the hands o f
the Popes, and confirme d the donation his father
hadj nade. But the Carlovingian supremacy is
a sorry page in the history of Italy. Excessive
corruption and social misery mark this period,
which culminated in 888 in the dastardly reign
of Charles the Fat ; and when the Frankish
Empire came to an end in Italy on the death of
this monarch, all that it can be said to have
done for Italy was to have introduced three
n ew ideas— firstly, the temporal power of the
Church ; secondl y- thp. si tp rem n oy of_the^ West-
er n Empire, as represented by a Northern
power ; and thirdly, vassalage — all of which in
44 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
the centuries to come tended to exhaust the
very life-blood of the peninsula.
Meanwhile, around the relics of San Marino,
a family was taking root under whose shelter
this small community even then leposed ; but
this connection is illustrated during the Dark
Ages only by one solitary manuscript quoted
by Muratori. The House of Montefeltro in
their earliest origin was represented by one
Duke Orso, and the cloak of San Leo had fallen
on one Giovanni, Bishop of Montefeltro. To-
gether the duke and bishop watched over the
interests of San Marino, and allowed Stephen,
the abbot of that place, to hold his funds and
revenues, and to exercise his jurisdiction against
the encroachments of one Deltone, then Bishop
of Bimini. This proves to us that at this time
our Republic existed only as a canonic corpora-
tion, and that it was under the temporal pro-
tection of the House of Montefeltro, and under
the spiritual protection of its bishops. Of this
Duke Orso the annals of the House of Feltria
are silent, and it is not known whether he
was a lineal ancestor of the Dukes of Urbino or
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARINO.
45
no. But his existence is attested by an in-
scription around the baldacchino of the bap-
tismal font in the Cathedral of San Leo, which
records that it was presented by Duke Orso in
the year 882. The document in question is
entitled the ' Placito Feretrano.' and is dated
CATHEDKAL OF SAN LEO.
February 20, 885, and is the first reliable proof
of the existence of our infant Eepublic.
During this century the intimate connec-
tion between the Teutonic and Latin elements
was being firmly cemented in Eome, 1 schools
1 Ranke's History of the Popes.
4G A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
being opened in the Eternal City for Fries-
landers and Saxons ; and as the empire of the
Franks fell into decay, the Popes, in the ut-
most adversity, had to look elsewhere for sup-
port. When the great Lombard Duchy of
Benevento and the Duchies of Spoleto and
Tuscany ceased to have weight in the affairs of
Italy, Berenger, Marquis of Friuli for thirty-six
years, established a transitory standpoint for
Italian independence ; but after his death cala-
mities fell thick and fast on Italian soil. The
Saracens invaded the southern coasts, whilst the
Hungarians laid waste the plains of Lombardy,
and Berenger II. , the then reigning sovereign
of Italy, was content to hold his throne as a
feudatory of the Teuton Emperor Otho I.
In common with the rest of Italy, San
Marino began to see the necessity of building
walls, and collecting the nucleus of the popula-
tion in one common centre. We are told that
the strong fortifications on the western side of
Mount Titanus owe their origin to Berenger
himself, but none of the traces of these- early
constructions now remain, all the walls bear-
THE KEPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 47
ing the character of a later date, and were
probably built by Federigo, the great Duke
of Urbino, 1 who took a special interest in San
Marino's welfare, and whose eagle is placed
side by side with the three towers of the Ee-
public on the principal gateway.
Be this as it may, when Oth o visited Italy
to chastise his refractory vassal for some dis-
turbance which had occurred, Berenger chose
San Marino as a standpoint on which to rally
his fallen fortunes, and from the summit of
Mount Titanus issued a diploma on Octo-
ber T, 951, which he signed as ' made in the
community of San Marinus,' and this forms a
second testimony to the early history of our
state.
But Berenger soon fell a sacrifice to the
victorious arms of Otho, and was carried pri-
soner into Germany ; and the Teuton Emperor
took an early opportunity to depose the Pope
John XII., who had solicited the German aid,
and received the imperial diadem in 961 from
Pope Leo, whom the Emperor had raised to
1 Chapter viii.
48 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
the choir of St. Peter in his stead. In the fol-
lowing year we find Otho dealing out portions
of his newly-acquired territory to faithful vas-
sals, and, amongst others, the Count Uldarico
of Carpegna was presented with twenty-eight
castles and land 'between the rivers Conca and
Marichium, Serravalle, San Marino, and the
town of Mons Feretri (San Leo).' This is pro-
bably the origin of the House of Montefeltro,
as we shall see in the ensuing chapter, and the
cause of its firm adherence to Ghibelline in-
terests.
The spirit of this century is generally marked
by the growing power of the nobles ; the fre-
quent barbarian incursions obliged the cities to
offer citizenship to the neighbouring barons in
return for the assistance of their armed troops,
thereby laying up a store of tyranny for them-
selves in the times to come. Thus the Malatesti
found their way into Eimini, the Visconti
into Milan, and all those lordly houses, which
were hereafter inseparably connected with the
cities, which adopted them. The want of roads
and communication between city and city made
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 49
each dependent on its own internal resources,
whilst all united in common respect and homage
to the clergy, and round each sacred fane the
scattered inhabitants of the country gathered
like flocks of sheep. In no other country but
Italy could so many centres of civilization have
so spontaneously arisen. Each city was a little
Rome for the surrounding district, rising up, so
to speak, out of the embers of ancient civiliza-
tion ; each community was prepared to exercise
its own jurisdiction and issue codes of laws based
on Justinian, whilst the executive authority was
generally placed in the hands of consuls whose
election was due to the body of the people at
large. Amongst countless contemporaries the
* community of tke Castle of San Marino,' as it
is styled in the earliest manuscripts, was in
those days as equitably governed as now, and
with a constitution which has hardly undergone
any change during the lapse of centuries.
But events in the following century were to
occur which would entirely remodel the state of
Italian society at large. It was the Papacy, not
the Empire, which was to effect this change. A
E
.00 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
series of weak pontiffs, who fawned on the Ger-
man emperors on one side and the Norman in-
vaders on the other, held the chair of St. Peter,
elected by the stronger Roman princes, or by
women who ruled in the Eternal City with the
spirit of Faustina ; whilst the German emperors
from time to time held their diets at Roncaglia,
and were content if their feudatories periodically
swore fealty there.
"Rut rvn__ thp nfr.p ssion of HenH L-IIL — to_
thp^mipprjid fhrnrip^ whilst st ill a minor._ _the
Papal chair was occupied by the indomitable
Hilde brand. Then began th at suicidal contest
between Po pe and Emperor which stained the
fair fields of Italy with the blood o f civil wa r
forthree centuries. To reform the internal
state of the Church was Gregory the VIL 's first
care, by establishing celibacy and checking the
gross immorality amongst the clergy ; then by
d eclaring the Empire elective he enrolled the
aristocr atic interests in Germany on his side ,
and was enabled to strike his final blow by
asserting that theChu rch had the sole right _o f
nomination to vacant sees, and that the Tiara
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARIXO. 51
was supreme over all earthly crowns. How
the Papal efforts were furthered by the Countess
Matilda of Tuscany, and how Henry was obliged
to do penance at her castle of Canossa, near
Parma, to the vindictive Pope ; how Henry by
his indomitable courage so far recouped his for-
tunes as to threaten his rival in the very castle
of St. Angelo, until he was repulsed by Eobert
Gui^card the Norman, and barely escaped with
life through the territories of the Countess
Matilda to Germany, from whence during the
remainder of his reism he no longer dared to
come down on the plains of Italy ; — all these
are incidents well known in history, which bore
their fruits in the coming century, and they
were threefold : t he Normans succeeded i n
firmly establishing themselves in the districts of
Naples and Sicily^C entral Italy became nomi -
nally under the sovereignty of the Popes, whilst
:the_ci ties of L ombardy and N orthern Italy, fa r
from any central form of government, gradually
established themselves as free communities.
Some time previous the germs of freedom had
taken root at Milan ; taking advantage of the
52 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
feuds between the lesser and greater barons, the
inhabitants, under the guidance of one Lanzone,
established the commune of Milan, and with it
one of the first banners which shook the power
of the Empire. The towns thus freed from the
thraldom of tyranny began to show signs of
that brilliancy in art and literature which was
to make them for ever illustrious ; securely shut
in within the city walls, the artizans had no
longer cause to fear the incursions of invading
arms, and opportunity was given them to ex-
pand their incipient talents. Again, the period
of the Crusades contributed much to the deve-
lopment of this tendency. Not only was Italy
favoured by climate and situation as a magazine
from which to furnish supplies and a passage
for the troops, when eastward bound, but also
they were brought by this means into more im-
mediate contact with the East, where civiliza-
tion was more advanced. Again, the scourge
of Italian soil was the constant petty warfare of
the smaller nobles, who by means of the Cru-
sades were drafted away in the retinues of their
feudal superiors, most of them never to return.
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARINO. 53
Thus at this time we find Milan, as the repre-
sentative of this spirit of freedom, openly defy-
ing the dictates of the emperors, sacrificing at
the same time their weaker neighbours to their
spirit of ambition, which proved how rotten was
their Liberal government — a tyranny in all but
name.
In 1158, the imperial throne was at length
filled by a man of energy and ambition, Fre-
deric Barbarossa, who was not content to see his
influence i n Italy fall into decay ; Jie_ cro ssed the
Alps and descended on the town of Milan, on
which h e imposed a Podesta, which forms the
first instance of that cu rious introductio n of a
f oreign element to assist in the gover nment,
which now alone exists on the summit of Mount
Titanus. 1 Thp. indfippnd p nrp of Tfaly^howpvpr,
had t aken too deep a root to be thus easily
crushed 1 _jind _ the formation of the Lomba rd
League united all the free cities of Northern
Itjjy,jfrom the Alps„_as_ far south as Ancon a. in
one common cause _agairist-JJie__Teuton. In-
the year 1167, twenty-four cities were joined
1 Vide chapter xiv.
54 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
together at the town of Bergamo by this League,
the results of which were manifested in 1176
by the victory of Legnano, when Barbarossa
found himself defeated by the instrumentality
of those very men of Milan on whom ten years
before he had imposed all the horrors of
conquest.
But this spirit of independence expired, ex-
tinguished jyy_-th e force of this its last breath ;
for instead of taking advan tage of jhe oppor -
t^jTJfj^^dpdjhpm by the Pea ce of Constance ,
t he Lombard __c jties gave way to that spi rit
oJLselfish ambitiojL_whi ch Milan had befor e
exhibited, and the fair plant of liberty was
gradually left to perish on Italian soil, whe re
everything else that was be autiful took roo t
and nourished. The glories of the Peace of
Constance passed away from Italy like a waning
star, and after it arose a dark period of social
slavery, illumined only by the false brilliancy of
art and luxury, a state of refinement which
never developed itself on the slopes of San
Marino, which remains an oasis to this day in
the midst of a land overflowing with objects of
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 55
grandeur, grand alone in the possession of its
ancient freedom. The inhabitants of Mount
Titanus during these stirring times offer us a
singular example of peace and contentment.
Conscious of their weakness, they made no
attempt to extend their territories by force of
arms, but contracted for themselves two pur-
chases of lands from their neighbours and
protectors, the Counts of Carpegna, one in a.d.
1100, and the other, seventy years later, of the
lands of Penna Eossa and Casoli. Curiously
enough, these documents of sale are both signed
by notaries of the same name, affording an in-
stance in these early times of the frequent recur-
rence of the same name in the same office, as
now, looking down a list of captains for the last
fifty years, one cannot fail to be struck with the
frequency with which the name of Belluzzi or
Bonelli occur.
About this time the immediate neighbours
of San Marino became more conspicuous in the
pages of history, and without a sketch of their
rivalries and factions it will be impossible to
understand the position held by our Eepublic.
56 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
placed as it was in the very jaws of each. For
in the words of an old commentator on Dante,
Benvenuto Kimaldo by name : ' In these neigh-
bouring mountains sprang up three families
amongst the most potent tyrants of Italy, that
of the Feltria, Malatesti, and Faggiuoli ; but if in
these mountains, in the bosom of anarchy, the
seed of tyranny sprang up, on the summit of
one of them alone could liberty save itself from
the general shipwreck, and maintain itself free
and independent amongst two rival despots who
hedged them in.'
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARIXO. 57
CHAPTER IV.
SOME OF SAN MARINO'S MORE IMMEDIATE
NEIGHBOURS.
' Questo e uu sito cosi erto, si scosceso, e si forte, cbe la
poca gente non puo farvi su disegno, e la rnolta non vi si pud
ne accostare ne nianeggiare.' — Zuccoli, Dialoyo della Citta
felice.
After the peace of Constance the history of
Italy is the history of the rise of despotism in
a thousand different forms ; a state of society
well calculated to sharpen men's intelligence,
as is amply testified by the rapid growth of
art in this atmosphere. The frequent changes
in government made each man feel dependent
on his own resources, not only for a livelihood,
but for life. Members of the same family were
ranged on opposite sides, and the Italian of
those days lived his life, left a distinguished
name, and died before a modern character has
58 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
readied an age of full development. By con-
trasting San Marino with the rest of Italy, we
get this idea brought more forcibly before us.
Here the government was always the same, for
the inhabitants of Mount Titanus were seldom
internally affected by the scenes around them,
and the striking contrast now exhibited by San
Marino to the rest of Italy at once suggests the
thought that, if Italy had all along been indepen-
dent under a settled government, and no foreign
elements had been brought to bear upon it,
we should never have heard of the names of
Raphael and his fellows, nor have had the
stately structures with which each town is de-
corated to admire. For the Sammarinesi were
men of the same kindred as the men of Urbino
or Bologna, but the school of life which they
have passed through has been different.
Let us now take a glance at some of San
Marino's more immediate neighbours.
Firstly, under the slopes of the mountain of
Carpegna we find a hardy race of nobles, who
vaunted that they could trace their origin to
Justinian, as is attested by a stone put over the
THE REPUBLIC OP SAX MARINO. 59
gateway of the Franciscan convent at San Ma-
rino, which, with flattering respect, represents
the head of Justinian placed side by side with
the eagle of Montefeltro. Be this as it may, in
the twelfth century the House of Carpegna was
represented by three branches — the Counts of
Carpegna, who continued to hold their moun-
tain fief in utter insignificance till 1815, when
the Camera Apostolica bought from them their
sovereign jurisdiction for 65,000/., and next
day sold it for one-fifteenth of that sum. The
other two branches being eventually combined,
gradually waxed strong in their Ghibelline
interests, presenting to Italy a noble race of
warriors, until Antonio di Carpegna, espousing
warmly the cause of Frederic Barbarossa in
1154, received as his reward the castles and
land around San Leo, with the title of Count of
Montefeltro, a title representing at the same
time the old temple of Jupiter Feretri on Monte
Feltria, and the nucleus of their strength in the
fortress of San Leo.
Secondly, on the side of Eimini, we find
the House of Malatesta, or the ' wrongheads,'
CO A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
as they were justly called, claiming their origin
from Scipio, and early established in the neigh-
bouring stronghold of Verucchio, probably an
offshoot of this same family of Carpegna, who
derived their name from some personal appear-
ance. This race is chiefly renowned in history
for the able warriors it produced, celebrated
no less for their perfidy and cruelty than -for
their prowess in war. But they never suc-
ceeded in extending their territories far, or
forming any strong basis of power ; for they
never established a system of primogeniture
like their neighbours in Urbino, and conse-
quently their lands became divided amongst
numerous branches. This House of Malatesta
was early summoned from Verucchio by the
inhabitants of Eimini to protect them against
the northern incursions, and when established
there commenced a system of tyranny which
was but slightly compensated for by their pa-
tronage of the arts. Their position as head of
the Guelphic faction in Eomagna brought them
in constant hostile connection with the House
of Feltria, a fact which, in a measure, assisted
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 61
the inhabitants of San Marino to maintain their
independence, since Mount Titanus formed a
natural bulwark between the two.
Again, a third neighbour, whose insidious
attempts on our Eepublic's freedom furnish us
with an excellent specimen of mediaeval life,
was the Bishop of Montefeltro, who governed
under the Counts the spiritual affairs of this dis-
trict. From their see at San Leo the Bishops
attempted in every way to usurp political power,
thereby displaying the characteristic of their
age. Whilst the Popes aimed at universal
power, these lesser stars strove hard to shine in
their respective spheres. Messer ITgolino, Bishop
of Montefeltro during a greater part of the
thirteenth century, was a man of the times.
By a dexterous manipulation of the quarrels
around him, he was generally to be found on
the winning side. He followed the standard of
the Counts of Montefeltro during the time of
the ascendancy of Ghibellinism, but on the de-
feat of the latter he took an early opportunity
of reconciling himself with the Pope. He
purchased a house on Mount Titanus, and was
G2 A FKEAK OF FKEEDOM ; OK,
very officious in lending his aid to the repub-
licans in all their legal quarrels and purchases,
and was only prevented by an opportune death
from assuming entire signoral rights over San
Marino. His conduct formed a precedent for
his successors ; but the Sammarinesi grew wise
through experience, and always received the
blandishments of their spiritual lords with dis-
trust. But this is anticipating the thread of
our history.
In the year 1186 a marriage took place
b etween Henry VI- of Germany and Constance,
heiress of the Norman line of prin ces in Sicily,
by which means the House of Swabia was raised
to its zenith nnhntli_sirlps of thp Alps This
union was, however, of short duration, for both
died a few years afterwards, and le ft an infan t
s on, Frederic II., whose long minority was
placed under the supervision of Pope Innocent
IL L, a pontiff who equalled Hildebrand in his
struggles fbr_ _aggrandising the Holy See . ^For
fifty years afte r Fr ederic's accession, Italy was
t he scene of constant struggle between Pope
and Emperor. City was divided against city
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 63
and brother against brother ; but still the con-
test had a meaning, and the name of Guelph
and Ghibelline was not an idle pretext for a
brawl, as it became towards the close of the
thirteenth century.
Bnonconte, the head of the House of Feltria,
fought well for his imperial master, and fight-
ing tinder his banner we find the Bishop of
Montefeltro and the Men of San Marino con-
stantly enumerated. Thus, when, during the
pontificates of Gregory IX. and Innocent IV.,
the thunders of excommunication were issued
against the Empire and its adherents, we find
the simple men of San Marino also under this
ban. But Ugolino, the bishop, had made his
peace with the Church before, and was able to
effect a reconciliation for the unpretending
mountaineers, who were reblessed in the Church
of Perugia ; and a few years later we find
Mount Titanus chosen as a sort of neutral
ground, on which the contending parties assem-
bled for a conference, at the instigation of
Philip, Bishop of Eavenna. As another mark
of peace and prosperity during these turbulent
64 A FKEAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
times, we find the Sammarinesi making a fur-
ther purchase of land from Taddeo, Count of
Montefeltro, in 1253, of the hamlet of Casoli.
This sale was supervised by Giovanni, Bishop
of Montefeltro, who had succeeded Ugolino
both in his see and in his endeavours to obtain
a footing on Mount Titanus through blandish-
ments. At this time also we find San Marino
offering a retreat to those who, through politics
or misfortune, found their homes too hot for
them. Thus the Parcitadi, the one Ghibelline
family at Rimini, had to fly from the victorious
Malatesti. They were received with open arms
by our Republic, with a pleasant pun on their
name, referring to their loss of citizenship.
Meanwhile the hostilities between Pope and
Emperor went on with increasing vigour. So
implacable was Gregory IX. to his rival, that
when Frederic II. gave up his European con-
tests to fight the Church's battles in the East,
the old Pope followed him with his excommu-
nications, declaring him a ' piratical captain,'
and thereby putting an effectual check to any
success over the infidel. When, therefore, in
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARINO. Go
1245, Frederic was deposed at the Council of
Lyons, the Papacy fulf illed the dream of Hilde-
brand, and for a time the triumph of the spiri t
tual arms was complete. Frederic died in
1250, leav ing a heritage of warfare to his son
Conra d, who fought bravely for fo ur years
against the arms of Inno cent in JN"aples 3 _the.
Pope claimmg_diat_country as forfeitedjojhfi-
Holy See ; and then Ma nfred, his illegitimate
brother, carried on the defence of his patri-
mony with cons ummate bravery ^ until the
Popes called in other aid ^ and produced further
complic ations on Italia n soil..
The age of Frederic II ., howeve r, did not pas s
away without leaving its footprints in Italy. By
in troducing the system of mercenaries, a new
era was commenced, not only f or Italy but for
the rest of Europe, whilst the Italian nobles
traded in warfare and hired themselves out as
condottieri. France followed Frederic's example
by establishing a paid army of Saracens, and by
employing Swiss and Scottish guards in their ser-
vice. Many of these Italian condottieri realised
by their prowess large fortunes, and not behind
F
66 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
the rest was the house of the Feltrians, who
spent large sums in beautifying Urbino, Gubbio,
and other towns under their jurisdiction, and
in mitigating the miseries of their subjects,
whilst other less liberal-minded autocrats used
it only as a means to grind down their people
for their own further aggrandisement.
Do
During the latt er half of this century, the
parti es of Guelph and Ghibelline ceased to exist
in an ything but name. Every city w as divided
_by wretched feud s, this or some other more
appropriate name being adopted, according to
circumstances. Amongst the cities of Eo-
magna, Bologna stands out as a prominent
example, whose contending parties adopted the
name of the Gieremei and Lambertazzi, the
origin of their feud being a romantic story, told
as follows by Sismondi : l ' Imalda, a noble lady
of the Ghibelline house of Lambertazzi, chanced
to fall in love with Bonifaccio, a scion of the
Guelphic house of Gieremei, and at one of their
clandestine interviews the brothers of Imalda fell
on Bonifaccio and wounded him with a poisoned
1 Sismondi, History of Italian Republics.
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARIXO. 07
dagger. Imalda, who had effected an escape,
returned shortly to the spot where the body of
her lover lay still warm, and hopeful still to
restore him, she sucked the wound, and the
poison was thus communicated to her veins.
Side by side the two lovers lay dead ; and,
exasperated by the sight, the two rival families
fought for very existence, but finally the
Lambertazzi were driven from the city,
12,000 citizens were banished, and their
houses razed.'
The Count Guido di Montefeltro put himself
at the head of the fugitives, and in their com-
mand acquired that reputation for being a
'grand captain,' which has been immortalised
by Dante in his divine comedy. The history of
Count Guido is one which in all the turmoil of
'the century would have sunk into insignificance,
if it had not been for Dante's love of Eomagna
and the Feltrian race. He introduces Buonconte
amongst his characters in Purgatory, and Count
Guido he finds in the bottomless pit itself; and
it is in relating their history, and in talking
kindly to poor Guido to assuage his woes, that
F 2
68 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
Dante gives us so excellent an epitome of the
history of Eomagna at this time, a history which
bears so strongly on the welfare of San Marino,
that it cannot be passed unnoticed.
The Umbrian Mountains" were amongst
Pante's favourite haunts when exiled from his
native Florence. The monastery of St. Croce
d'Avellana, near Cagli, he chose as his ideal of
a spot for prayer, at the foot of Monte Catria,
where the savage aspect of nature forms indeed
a spot calculated to evoke mystic wanderings in
a fantastic brain. The rocky San Leo he chose
as a fitting simile for his entrance into purgatory,
and his infernal regions are thickly peopled
with characters from this district, a doubtful
compliment indeed, but one which has served
to give many of these worthies a celebrity they
would otherwise not have had. Hence we find
in Dante not only a beautifier and re-modeller
of the Italian vernacular, but also a valuable
historian of the facts which went on around
him, for in his early days he had fought under
the banner of Gnido di Montefeltro, whom he
styles ' the honour of Eomagna,' under the walls
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARTXO.
CO
of Pisa, perhaps side by side with ' the men of
San Marino,' who followed the same standard
for weal or woe, when the Ghibelline interests
wmmm
CASTLE OF VERR17CHIO.
were at stake. From the summit of Mount
Titanus the towers of Verruchio rise up on a
neighbouring height, where Paolo and Francesca
da Rimini paid the penalty of their illicit love.
70 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
Guido di Montefeltro was one of those rest-
less spirits which mark the age, whose assistance
kept the fast decaying Ghibelline power alive.
When the Pope * 1 , nnvir>"« to r>vP|-t1-irnw_fhp
Swabian house in Naples, called in the aid o f
Charles of Anjou, the triumph of the Guelphs
was almost complete . T he French influe nce^
and the French arms seeme d destined for ev er
to sever t he slender thread which bound Italy
to the Roman Emperors. Conrad in, the last of
his house, suffered for his adherence to his ances-
tral rights on the scaffold, and Charles of Anjou,
placed as he was at the head of the Guelphs,
was in a position to dictate his own terms in the
peninsula. We find one Giovanni d'Appia or
d'Epa, a Frenchman acting as Martin IV.'s
legate in Romagna, in constant warfare with
Count Guido, who conquered him near Cervia,
The city which made the long resistance,
And of the French a sanguinary heap. — Dante, Infernal.
Longfellow.
At length, however, Guido was routed, and for
a time took up his residence on Mount Titanus.
But his spirit could not long rest quiet, and
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARINO. 71
though vanquished by Rome, and his sons held
as hostages by the Pontiff, we again find him
leading the Pisans against the Florentines, until
at length, wearied by the troubles of the world
and imbued with the fanaticism of the age, he
took the cowl in 1296, and became a follower
of St. Francis, the pious monk of Assisi, who
at the beginning of this century had struck at
the very root of the rottenness of the Church,
and had brought about, by his zealous en- •
deavours, that revival which gave the hierarchy
a new base of existence, so to speak, and post-
poned the days of Luther for centuries. But
Guido's disposition was not suited for a cell ; at
the instigation of Boniface VIII. , he left his
seclusion to fight the battles of the successor of
that Pontiff against whom he had before borne
arms, so versatile were the politics of the day.
The regrets he felt for this are thus echoed by
Dante from his tomb :
I was a man of arms, then Cordelier,
Believing thus begirt to make amends,
And truly, my belief had been fulfilled
But for the high priest, whom may ill betide,
Who put me back into my former sins.
72 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
Guido eventually died in the odour of sanctity,
a.d. 1299.
Politics in Romagna at this time give us an
insight into the conditions of the family of this
a^e. On the so-called Guelphic side we find
Paolo, son of Da Verruchio, the great Malatesta
of Rimini, the ancient mastiff of Dante,
Who made such had disposal of Koniagna,
at the head of affairs, supported by the exiles
from San Marino and other Ghibelline places,
and by Taddeo di Montefeltro, whilst Guido at
the head of the Ghibellines was assisted by
Eamberto Malatesta, the exiles of Rimini, and
the men of San. Marino. The characters of these
two leading chiefs are admirably summed up by
Dante, who spoke of Malatesta as above, whilst
he thus puts it into Guido's mouth to say,
The deeds I did
Were not those of a lion, hut a fox ;
The machinations, and the covert ways,
I knew them all, and practised so their craft,
That to the ends of earth the sound went forth.
\ Yhen in 1283 the Sicilian Vespers startled the
world with tIie~mosl atrocious ouTfageof those
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARINO.
dark ages, the French element in the South
received a shock from which it never recov ered.
Constance, the sole survivor of the Swabian
house, carried with her to Spain the claims of
he r family to the two Sicilies ; hence we find a
new vulture hovering round to claim its share
of the corpse of Italy . Meanwhile the House
of Austria was reviving the strength of the
Empire by the infusion of new blood ; Rudolph ,
t he first of the H apsburgs, acquired more active
authority than his predecessors, and by afresh
co nferring the d onations of Pepin and Charle-
magne, k ept alive the flame of the German
ele ment in Italy, which was now almost extin ct.
But in Bomagna a transient peace was in
store at the close of the thirteenth century. In
1299 a cessation of hostilities was proclaimed,
and at the convention for this purpose San
Marino was represented by Count Galeazzo, then
at the head of the House of Feltria. Thus it
was that Dante consoled the anxious shade of
Guido,
Bomagna thine is not, and never has been,
Without war in the bosom Of its tyrants ;
But open war I none have left there now.
74 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
During the weakness of the House of Feltria
for the ensuing century, we shall find our
Republic struggling for its very existence with
the emissaries of the Popes. The Pontiffs them-
selves, however, had not the opportunity of
superintending their own affairs in Italy, and it
was only to further their own ambitious ends
that the legates acted thus. For with the death
of Boniface VIII. the power of the Papacy was
t emporarily at an end. — TTihVhrnnfl+Jji nocent
III., and TVmifocft V TTT ; W1 stretrhed ij^powcr
t o the utmost, and men ceased to fear their
anathema s ; and when in 1305 Cle nieiil3L-Wfts-
induced to remove his Court to Avi2non a _the.
Popes wpTP_Jor_ tn p - next s ev enty years b ut a_
tool in the hands of Fran
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO.
CHAPTER V.
DIFFICULTIES WITH PAPAL LEGATES.
La Kepublique de San Marino n'est ni redoutee, ni re-
doutable, telle est la cause de sa longue prosperity. — F. de
Ba rg hon-Fo rtrio^.
The story of San Marino for the centuries to
come has a firmer basis on which to stand. The
documents relating to it are more consecutive
and precise, and can be freed from any sus-
picion of being but legendary lore. Thus we
find the consuls assuming the name of Captains.
The 'Palazzo Pubblico' was built, the Borgo
became considered as the natural centre of
commerce, and the Sammarinesi felt prepared
to meet the honours of self-government with
fitting respectability. For previously to this,
self-government was a natural state of affairs,
even in the smallest communities ; but now that
every town had selected its ruling family, or
70 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
become known as a flourishing republic, San
Marino found itself isolated, and consequently
accepted its position as such. The Council was
in the habit of altering their statutes, and deve-
loping their small resources, by means of hiring
out their lands and encouraging agriculture,
and no further mention is made of the super-
vision of the officious Bishops of Montefeltro.
A curious document, luckily preserved in
the archives of San Marino, reveals the notions
with which these early republicans regarded
their liberty, expressing sentiments which are
by no means fully realised centuries later
amongst the most inveterate republicans. It
runs as follows : — ' When Eanieri, the abbot of
St. Anastasia, was employed by Boniface VIII.
to look into the state of affairs on Mount Titanus,
he enquired of the citizens what they meant by
their " liberty" and was answered thus, " Be-
cause the men belong to themselves, because
they owe no homage to anyone amongst them-
selves, but only to the Master of all things."
Nevertheless, the Sammarinesi did not live
thus without many difficulties from without, for
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 77
the Popes, from their exile at Avignon, sent
legates to look after their Italian provinces, who
filled the pages of Italian history with many a
scene of oppression.
Hildebrand, Bishop of Arezzo, was appointed
rector of Eomagna, and one Teodorico occupied
the post of canon of St. Leo under him. This
worthy canon thought himself entitled to certain
dues from San Marino, which the republicans
refused to pay, thereupon Teodorico repaired to
Eiinini, and consulted a skilled lawyer, Pala-
mede by name, giving him instructions to look
carefully into the case. Palamede did so, and
in his award declared our Eepublic to be free
from all external influence. This was a cause
of great gladness to the free-born mountaineers,
who have henceforth held the name of Pala-
mede in great respect, and to this day it is a
favourite one to bestow on young republicans.
This award was again of service to them in
1296, when the case of some tribute due to
Boniface VIII. was disputed, and decided in
favour of the Sammarinesi by the above-men-
tioned Eanieri, abbot of St. Anastasia.
78 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
As prosperity increased under the kindly
atmosphere of liberty, many envious eyes were
cast up towards Mount Titanus, and the fol-
lowing curious story furnishes us with a good
instance of the clerical rapacity of the day.
SAX MA1UXO FROM KIMIXI HARJiOl'Ii.
Benvenuto was Bishop of Montefeltro for many
years at the beginning of the fourteenth cen-
tury ; with fraudulent intent he went to the
Malatesti at Rimini, and represented to them
that he was entitled to certain dues and tribute
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 79
from San Marino, but that by reason of the
assistance given to the republicans by the hostile
house of Feltria he was unable to enforce them
himself. However, he agreed to make over
these rights for a handsome sum of money to
the Lords of Rimini, who might be better able
to maintain them.
At this time John XXII. was the repre-
sentative of St. Peter, and held his court at
Avignon, and by means of his legate Almerico
in Bomagna, he countenanced the attempt of
Benvenuto, inasmuch as thereby he hoped to
strike another blow at the Counts of Urbino, by
depriving them of their firm ally. Before rati-
fying this contract the Lords of Eimini called
in the assistance of an advocate, and all was
done in proper form. But the most astounding
fact of all is that it was never carried out ; in
the annals of Eimini no mention was ever made
of possession being taken of any rights and dues
of San Marino, and furthermore, a few years
later, when the Feltrian house was banished
from Urbino, and unable in any way to assist
the Republic, we find the men of San Marino
80 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
entering into a treaty with the Malatesti for
mutual protection. And finally, as a crowning
point to the complication of the story, Benve-
nuto himself when chased away from his see at
San Leo, came as a fugitive, and was kindly
received at San Marino. The real solution of
this episode must be looked for at Avignon,
where the extraordinary character of Jul in
XXII. will easily account for any eccentricity
in diplomacy in which the Pontiff was in any
way concerned. Whether money really passed
between the Malatesti and Benvenuto does not
transpire ; probably if it did, it eventually found
its way to the coffers of Avignon. 'John
XXII. was the most insatiate of pontiffs,' says
Flenry, and his treasure was put down by Vil-
lain at twenty-five millions of florins. In short,
the Popes at Avignon furnish us with examples
of excesses in everything; for whilst John
XXII. busied himself in inventing the system
of ' annates ' and other extortions, the licen-
tiousness of the court of Clement VII. shocked
even that immoral age.
Let us now take a ulance at the condition of
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARINO. 81
the House of Feltria. During the lifetime of
Count Guido the domain was being constantly
extended. Urbino had been won by the arms
of Buonconte, and with it the family was invested
by the Pope with the title of Count of Urbino,
which superseded the name of Montefeltro.
Cagli and Gubbio were soon added to their
jurisdiction, and subsequently by mariiages
their territories were increased. On the death
of Guido the family went through a period of
misfortune, owing to their adherence to the
Ghibelline cause. Federigo, who succeeded his
lather, was murdered together with his son,
and the family was banished from the patrimony
by the inhabitants, who put themselves under
the immediate jurisdiction of the Holy See.
But owing to the extortions and bad govern-
ment of the Papal Deputies, they at length re-
cognised their mistake, and summoned another
son of Federigo, the Count Nolfo, to rule over
them. The first years after his restoration were
disturbed by the revolt of his uncle Speranza,
w T ho attempted to establish himself as the head
of the family, but his efforts were crushed, and
G
82 A FREAK OF FEEEDOM ; OR,
we shortly find him adding to the list of fugi-
tives who found a harbour of refuge on Mount
Titanus.
In Italy generally the affairs were rapidly
approaching that state of anarchy which re-
sulted from the establishment of the system of
hiring warfare, and of the Free Companies,
which demoralised the very foundation of
society, whilst the Popes were at Avignon w T ith
no real power in their Italian states, and whilst
the Empire was divided amongst itself, so as
to allow of its exercising no influence abroad.
Hence there was every opportunity for the
development of individualism, and the estab-
lishment of separate interests all over the penin-
sula. Safe in her Lagunes, Venice had for some
time past ruled in the Adriatic, whilst Genoa
aimed at a corresponding position on the other
coast. In Florence, Siena, and Perugia, strong
republics were established, whi ch rivalled and
even surpassed in riches many of the sovereigns
in Europe, whilst others of smaller importance
were dotted jdU wer Tuscany. It was owing_ to
this rise of individuality that the system of hiring
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARINO. 83
mercenary troops gained such ground in Italy,
so detrimental to her prosperity as a nati on.
Florence and Genoa first starte d the idea in the
thirteenth century, and fro m the force of circum-
stances all other States we re obliged to follow
this example. But it was not till after the ex-
peditions of the Emperor Henry VII. in 1310 ,
and Louis of Bavaria in 1326, and John, King
of Bo hemia, in 1331, that a sufficient nucleus
of straggling Germans was found to form the
' Great Company,' as it was called, under Duke
G uarnieri, or Werner . The F rench wars
o f Edward III, bein g completed, numerous
warriors found themselves out of employment,
and hearing of the richness of Italy, and the
good opportunities afforded them of turning an
honest penny , they flocked, in crowds to fight
the battles of those whose money was the only
thing they did not despise. Sir John Hawkwood
formed the natural leader of his countrymen,
who, after many vicissitudes, finally settled
down as a faithful employe of Florence, and his
tomb is now seen in the cathedral of that city,
erected by the grateful citizens to the memory
G 2
84 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
of Giovanni Acuto, as he was called in Italy.
This period is one in which the foreign element
was entirely predominant in Italian warfare ;
but the native martial spirit was not altogether
dead, and towards the close of the fourteenth
century we find the mountains of Romagna and
the plains of Lombardy producing a race of
warriors who entirely superseded the northern
adventurers, and made the system of mercenary
warfare in Italy purely Italian.
Meanwhile in Borne, during the absence
of the Pontiffs, we find strange outbursts of
smouldering liberty, at the head of which Cola
di Eienzi stands out as a name well known
to everyone ; no one is ignorant of how he
established his ephemeral Republic, or of how
eventually he was incarcerated by the Pontiffs
themselves, and all the wild enthusiasm of the
hour was crushed never again to revive.
But the Popes at Avignon learnt a lesson
from this, that their Italian property must be
more closely looked after, or else it would slip
for ever from their grasp. With this view,
Innocent VI., one of the most politic of the
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARLVO. 85
Avignon Popes, selected Cardinal Albornoz, the
Spanish Bishop of Toledo, as a fitting person to
repair to Italy with full power to reinstate the
Papal authority. Knowing the hold that Eienzi
had over the popular mind, his first step was
to release the demagogue from his prison, and
use him as a tool to win over the people to
the Papal side. Fra Moreale, a celebrated con-
dottiere, was, through Eienzi's instrumentality,
induced to join the standard of Albornoz, and
thus armed the Cardinal proceeded to reduce
the Pope's refractory vassals one by one.
After strenuous exertions, the whole of Eomagna
was made subservient to the Papacy. To illus-
trate the part San Marino played throughout this
invasion, we will quote the words of Ugolini, the
Italian historian of the Dukes of Urbino : ' The
Cardinal having reduced all the Feltrian pro-
vince to the Church, wondered how a place so
weak as San Marino should dare to resist him.
This Titanic rock was a beam in his eye. At
first he excommunicated some of the citizens for
opposing the direct sovereignty of the Church,
and then, by the intervention of the Counts of
86 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
Urbino, the excommunication was suspended ;
nevertheless, he continued to trouble these
mountaineers, so zealous of their freedom. The
surpassing power of the Legate caused them no
little anxiety, for, according to the opinion of
the times, " what the clergy take, they rarely
relinquish." But the prelate did not push his
pretentions to the extremity, and the Samma-
rinesi remained safe.' Again, we can but put
down the security of San Marino to the utter
insignificance in which this isolated rock was
held, rather than the clemency of Albornoz ; for
the Cardinal had to turn his attention to the
south before the conquest of Eomagna was
complete, and also he must have feared that, if
too hardly pressed, the Sammarinesi would have
put themselves under the protection of the
Malatesti, who were not yet reduced to order.
The name of Albornoz is still held in detestation
in these mountains, and at San Marino is coupled
with that of Alberoni, whose machinations
against their freedom we shall see three centuries
later. 1 Albornoz shares with the Cardinal Eobert
1 Vide chapter ix.
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. H7
of Geneva the credit of having perpetrated the
horrible siege of Cesena, where the women and
children were all ruthlessly slaughtered ; and in
1356, on the capitulation of Eome, the only
favour the conquered city demanded was that
the hated Cardinal should not be admitted.
From a treaty in 1356, between the Holy
See and Count Nolfo (who was kindly permitted
to remain in possession of his territories on en-
tire subserviency), we find a clause excepting
the land or commune of San Marino from these
concessions, and likewise stating that, if the
Malatesti should be reduced to subservience,
the commune of San Marino and the protection
of the same should return to its former state.
In spite, however, of this narrow escape from
loss of liberty, we find the men of San Marino
obliged ten years later to take up arms against
their friends the Feltrians, and to assist the army
of Albornoz at the siege of San Leo, the loss of
which completed the ruin of this family. Their
feelings in this case must have been much akin
to servitude ; and it is a stumbling-block in their
course of perpetual liberty, which it is hard to
88 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
put aside with such complacency, as a thing of
nought, like their eulogistic historian Delfico
has done.
When eventually the Popes determined to
return to their natural capital in 13G7, and
Urban V. landed in Italy, he found the Cardinal
Albornoz awaiting his arrival and Italy in a
measure reduced by the force of arms ; the
Cardinal's days were, however, numbered, and
the ceremony of the Pope's public entry into
the Eternal City was damped by the death
of the principal agent who had brought it
about.
Beyond another legal struggle with the
Bishop of Montefeltro, Peruzzi by name, when
the Cardinal Adruino had succeeded Albornoz
as Legate of Romagna, the Sammarinesi had no
further cause for anxiety ; and out of this they
came victorious, and the Bishop Peruzzi appeared
in person in the parish church of San Marino to
promise that his relations for the future with the
Republic should always be of the most friendly
character. But not trusting to empty words,
the inhabitants got Franceschino, a judge from
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARINO. 89
Rimini, to draw up a ' Privilegium ' for ever
attesting their liberty.
When Cardinal Anglico, the brother of
Urban VI., and legate of Gregory XI., came
to Romagna, he found the republicans in full
exercise of their jurisdiction. Gregory XL was a
Pope who dearly loved statistics, and employed
all his officials in collecting every fact con-
cerning the administration of justice, population,
&c, of places under his control. Thus the Car-
dinal Anglico, a benevolent, well-meaning man,
was despatched to fill his note-book in Eo-
magna, and the following is an extract from it: —
' The castle of San Marino, which is in the
mountains in sight of Rimini, is very elevated
and strong, and inaccessible. Here there are two
forts, and the approach to them and the said
mountain is most difficult. There are about
three hundred hearths. They do not admit
the power of the Church, nor anyone exercising
jurisdiction in its name ; they govern them-
selves, and pass sentence in all civil and crimi-
nal cases without any authority, by a certain
tolerance of the Church.'
90 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
But lie adds they attend at the Montefel-
trian parliaments, and serve in the cavalry, and
pay a hearth-tax for the privilege of the advice
of such parliament. This, then, is a substan-
tial evidence to the comparative independence
of San Marino, at a time when their great
supporter, the House of Feltria, was at its
weakest, and the exorbitance of the pontiffs
was at its height.
An inhabitant of Mount Titanus, who tried
in 1375 to deliver his native town over to
Claro, Bishop of Montefeltro, met with his just
reward on the gibbet. This is one of the
few instances of treachery practised by these
mountaineers amongst themselves, and, there-
fore, appears doubly heinous to them.
About this time the schism in the Church
of Eome, and the unsettled state of the Papal
dominions, enabled the House of Feltria to re-
turn to some of their possessions, of which
Albornoz had deprived them ; and after the
entrance of Antonio di Montefeltro into his
ancestral property, we find them in constant
hostility with Carlo Malatesta, one of the most
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 91
famous conclottieri of the time, a warfare which
the descendants of each inherited, and which
continued between the two houses for nearly
a century, until the final overthrow of the
Malatesta family.
Meanwhile, in the disturbed state of Italy,
the mercenary generals of the age were reap-
i ng a rich h arvest. Out of the foreign school
of warriors sprang ma ny Italians who, nur-
t ured in the arts of war, were able to carve out
fo r them selves handsome principalities. Alberico
da Barbiano was one of the first of these purely
Italian condottieri , and the company of St. George,
founded by him, was one of the most esteemed
in Italy for prowess in war, and when under
the control of the Cardinal Eobert of Geneva,
afterwards Pope Clement VIII., perpetrated
some of the most horrible deeds of cruelty on
record. Out of this school sprang some men
of more lasting fame. Sforza Atendola, a com-
mon Milanese workman, was led by an omen
to embrace the profession of arms ; he became
one of the leading generals of the age, and by
receiving the gift of the march of Ancona from
02 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
the Pope, he found himself raised to the rank
of princes. He afterwards married the heiress
of the Visconti, and by force of arms, backed
up by marital pretensions, possessed himself of
the Duchy of Milan. Braccio da Montone, a
citizen of Perugia, not unfrequently caused our
Republic to tremble by his proximity ; he was
for many years a rival of Sforza in the arts of
war, and became a potent prince in his native
town. But it was with Carlo Malatesta that
San Marino was most closely brought into con-
nection. This prince consolidated greatly the
power of his house ; like many of his race he
took the heroes of antiquity for his model, and
aimed at virtues which he did not possess ; he
was the most diplomatic of these condottleri,
and consequently possessed a reputation more
extensive than his power
The complications which arose around our
Piepublic out of this system of warfare, and the
final triumph of the House of Feltria, we will
allude to in the next chapter.
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 03
CHAPTER VI.
COMMENCEMENT OF THE GOLDEN ERA IN THE
UMBRIAN MOUNTAINS.
Je siiis monarehiste en France, et republican! a St. Marin. —
Chateaubriand.
The close of the fourteenth century and the
incoming of the next is celebrated in European
history for the great schism in the Church ; and
as the history of Romagna, and consequently,
that of San Marino, was materially affected by
the events which shook Roman Catholicism to
its foundation, and opened a new line of thought
not only to Italy, but to the whole of Chris-
tendom, we must give a short sketch of the
events as they stand.
No soo ner had the intimidated ca rdinals in
conclave in Rome been force d into el ecting an
It alian Pontiff in the shape of Urban VI, than
they repented them of their folly in being thus
94 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
coerced, and fled to Anagni, from whence the y
imposed o n the world the Cardinal Eobert of
Geneva (the ruthless condot tiere, who led the
Breton Free Companies) as a rival Pontiff,_u nder
the name of Cle ment VIII. Thus all Europe wa s
divided in its adherence, and scope was give n
for_jwty _ spirit n nrW thp covpr of _rftTjcrion .
Italy adhered to its native Pontiff, whilst Cle -
ment fo und a harbour of refuge in Avignon .
T hese rival Popes chiefly amused them -
s elves with anathematising each other, and su p-
p orting rival claimants for the crown of Naples .
This distracted country, by means of the will
of Joanna I., was bequeathed as a legacy to
Louis of Anjou, nephew of the king of France,
and hence formed an excellent object for the
centre of rival interests ; and to support the
cause of Ladislaus, Pope Boniface IX.. successor
in Italy to Urban VI., scrupled not to extort
money by every means in his power from his
adherents. A good instance of this Pontiff's
avarice is afforded us by his conduct towards
San Marino. Again, a Bishop of Montefeltro
appears on the scene to proffer his claims, now
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 95
almost proverbial, over Mount Titanus, and
again the pontifical arm was sought in support
thereof. The avaricious Boniface, however,
granted the bishop permission to pursue his
claims, solely on condition that a large share of
the profits should find their way into the Papal
coffers. But from the fact that nothing further
is heard of the bishop's schemes, we may argue
that the trouble in executing his project would
hardly have compensated him, when he had to
share the greater part of his spoils with so
grasping a superior.
The great distress in Eome, when Ladislaus
repaid his supporters by trying to add to his
dominion the Eternal City itself, and the empti-
ness of the pontifical coffers, assisted greatly
to the re-establishment of the Feltrian House
in Urbino. Town after town exchanged their
allegiance from the Pope to the Montefeltri,
and as, of all the provinces of Italy, Piomagna
possessed the most warlike inhabitants, in fact,
the sole nucleus of native spirit, the Popes in
their embarrassment were unable to offer any
resistance.
96 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
About this time an acred Venetian, Ancfelo
Corario by name, succeeded Boniface in his re-
stricted pontifical honours as Gregory XII.,
whilst France continued to be the mainstay of
the Avignon Pope Benedict XIII. Thus it
was when the Council of Pisa, gathered toge-
ther to heal this schism, presented the Catholic
world with a third Pope, instead of assuaging
the difficulty. John XXIII. was a man of great
spirit, and a fine specimen of the warlike bishop
of the age. Before he advanced on Eome, Pope
Gregory fled towards his native lagunes, and
passing by Rimini, sought the protection of
the inhabitants of Mount Titanus. The open-
hearted republicans were thus placed in a posi-
tion of great difficulty — desirous of affording a
halting-place to the aged fugitive, but at the
same time recognising the clangers they would
thereby incur. In their extremity they sought
the advice of Count Guidantonio di Monte-
feltrio, who sagely advised the republicans to
close their gates to the fugitive Pope. Gre-
gory, thus abandoned, was constrained to throw
himself on the protection of his native country,
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MAKIJS T 0. 97
and from a comparative obscurity there lie con-
tinued to annoy the world by his persistency in
adhering to his pontifical honours, from which
death alone could separate him.
Meanwhile, in Germany, the Empire was
gaining strength, and in the person of Sigis-
mond we again hear of imperial influence on Ita-
lian soil. He it was who induced John XXIII.
to consent to a Grand Council of the Church,
and he it was who finally caused this Council
to be assembled at Constance. Here Pope John
was deposed, and here another was raised in his
stead to the chair of St. Peter, without any of
those reforms being carried out for which pur-
pose the Council had been nominally assembled.
Then the Christian world saw Martin V. in full
pontifical power, able to deal with each nation as
he chose, and the old hold on men's minds again
restored, not a whit shaken by the long schism,
since the spirit of reform was not yet strong
enough to declare itself. But as a temporal power
the Papacy was not as it had been, with empty
coffers, and society rotten in the very heart of
its dominions. Hence the Popes could do but
H
88 . A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
little to restore their lost supremacy in Eo-
magna, for which favoured spot in Italy two
centuries of prosperity were in store.
The House of Feltria commenced, as it were,
a new lease of greatness with Antonio in 1376:
though owing a certain allegiance to the Popes,
the bond of union became less and less, and as
they grew more and more liberal-minded with
each successive Count, the hold they had on the
people after a hundred years of this re-estab-
lishment was greater and more substantial than
that of any other Italian potentate. They not
only occupied themselves in arms, leading their
brave mountaineers to constant victories, and
returning to their capital with well-laden purses,
with which to beautify the towns and mitigate
the taxes of their people, but also they shone
brilliantly in the world of art. The Count
Antonio himself wrote sonnets, savouring cer-
tainly more of religion than of poetry, whilst
his daughter Battista was one of the most
talented ladies of the age ; married early in life
to Galeazzo Malatesta, of Pesaro, she was not
long before she tasted domestic troubles; her
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARIXO. 99
husband left her, and then she devoted herself
entirely to a contemplative life, writing on
human frailty, and the true faith ; in 1433 she
gave a Latin harangue to the Emperor Sigis-
mond on his visit to Italy, and finally took
the veil as a follower of St. Francis. The next
count, Guidantonio, was an able warrior, and
added Gubbio to his territories, became grand
constable of Ladislaus, King of Naples, and
eventually, when he came to terms with John
XXIII., he received the title of Gonfaloniere of
the Church, and Vice-General of Eomagna. In
his war with Braccio da Montone, the cele-
brated Perugian condottiere, San Marino was
placed in difficulties ; Carlo Malatesta was most
importunate in pressing the Eepublic into his
service against the victorious Papal arms, but
by some means, which do not transpire, the Ee-
public managed to maintain its neutrality ; and
when, eventually, Florence patched up a peace
between the contending parties, we find each
side loading the little Eepublic with favours.
Martin V. admitted their exclusive right to
elect their own justices of appeal ; Guidantonio
H 2
100 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
exempted them from paying taxes on the lands
held by republicans in the Count's territories,
whilst Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, in
consideration of losses the Eepublic had sus-
tained in the late wars, followed Guidantonio's
example.
About this time a daughter of the House of
Montefeltro married a son of the lord of Eimini's,
and in the mountains of the Eomagna every-
thing seemed to augur peace and prosperity for
the future. The republicans were present at
these nuptial?, bringing with them a gift for the
happy pair.
But this cloudless horizon was soon to be
darkened by the insidious cunning of Sigis-
mondo Pandolfo on the one hand, and by the
short but disastrous reign of Oddantonio di
Montefeltro on the other.
The life of this young Count Oddantonio,
who was made Duke of Urbino by Eugenius IV.,
is shrouded in mystery. Certain it is that when
he was left at the head of affairs, still quite
young, he was surrounded by evil advisers, and
gave himself up to a course of dissipation, which
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARIXO. 101
alienated the affections of his subjects, and
brought him to an untimely end at the hand of
an assassin, and with him became extinct the
last legitimate heir of the noble House of
Feltria.
But in those days the question of legitimacy
was one of minor importance : for example, in
the House of Malatesta two illegitimate sons
succeeded in succession to the lordship of
Eimini. In the annals of Naples, Milan, and
other Italian states, we find that the bar-sinister
was of slight import, provided the claim were
well backed up by force of arms.
Thus in Urbino we find Federigo, the ille-
gitimate son of Guidantonio, taking the posses-
sions of his ancestors without a murmur. So
popular and high-minded was he that his ac-
cession was hailed with delight, and his reign,
which continued till 1482, forms one of the
most brilliant episodes in Italian history of that
day.
A comparison between Federigo and Sigis-
mondo Pandolfo will afford us examples of two
distinct classes of Italian potentates, and as their
102 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
history for the next twenty years is most inti-
mately connected with that of our Republic, let
us here, for a moment, look into the characters
of these two remarkable men. About the only
point they had in common was a love of art,
but what different tastes they displayed in the
pursuit of it is exemplified to-day by the con-
trast between Rimini and Urbino, the capitals
they respectively beautified.
Sigismondo, intensely eccentric, and in-
tensely idealistic, erected a temple to himself
and his paramour Jsotta, savouring much of the
pagan style. This he covered, outside and in,
with the monogram which is everlastingly com-
memorative of his immoral life, whilst his three
wives, successively murdered, are honoured in
no way, except in name. This temple, as it is
still termed, is like the illicit offspring of some
heated brain ; the architect, Alberti, was partially
mad, and its founder was partially inhuman,
both the forerunners of that Renaissance school
which delighted in covering the hoary objects
of antiquity with fantastic devices. Urbino,
on the other hand, affords us an example
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO.
103
of all that is delicate and refined. In the
stately palace which crowns the town every
detail is exquisite, and from the lovely stone
carvings, which adorn each door and chimney-
piece, to the intricate intarsia work on the walls,
every stone, and every conception, marks the
exquisite refinement of the Court where the
COIN OF FEDERIGO D UfiBINO.
artist, the poet, and the philosopher found a
sanctuary and a home. It is a characteristic of
the House of Malatesta that they more or less
worshipped the philosophers of antiquity, whilst
it is equally characteristic of the House of Monte-
feltro that so many of them assumed the cowl
of St. Francis, in which to end their days.
No better example of Sigismondo's duplicity
104 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
can be anywhere found than in his constant
insidious attempts to possess himself of the castle
of San Marino. From the frequent instances on
record, the desire of getting so strong a vantage
ground against his enemies must have been con-
tinually on his mind — a restless, troubled mind,
always suspicious of his friends, and always
trying to overreach his foes.
The constant dread he felt lest Mount Titanus
should become a centre of attack against him is
quaintly illustrated by a legendary story attached
to the monastery of Valdragone, situated in a wild
spot amongst some tufous refts outside the Borgo.
It runs as follows : In the thirteenth century a
pious man left in the Eepublic's charge a sum of
money with which to found a monastery of the
order of Servites on this weird spot. Never-
theless, from causes unknown, this bequest was
never carried out. As years rolled on, numerous
tales of horror were told of a fierce dragon
which appeared on the spot, so terrifying the
peasants that the place was called Valdragone,
which it retains to this day. The republicans,
how T ever, were unable to appease this monster,
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARINO. 105
owing to the lack of money in their coffers ;
doubtless the legacy had long since found its
way into some other channel, when one day
there arrived from Siena a man who called
himself Spanocchi, alleging that he had come,
under Divine inspiration, to build the monastery
in question. The republicans gladly received
him, and with their accustomed hospitality
pressed him to come the following year. This
he did, and again presented himself not empty-
handed, for he brought his friends a picture
painted in oils, and representing the Madonna
and Child supported by the virgin saints Bar-
bara and Catharine, and so wonderful were
the miracles wrought by this that the credulous
flocked from all parts to worship and behold.
Meanwhile the crafty Sigismondo looked
askance on the concourse of people on the
dangerous heights of Mount Titanus, recognising
in this the centre of some deep-laid plot. He
forbad any of his subjects to repair to the holy
spot, and sent assassins under cover of night to
seize the pious Spanocchi, and bring him to
Eimini. The tyrant's ruffians found no difficulty
100 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
in possessing themselves of their prey ; but, lo !
after walking with him all night, as they thought
in the direction of Rimini, they were electrified
at break of day to find themselves still by the
cross, which Spanocchi had erected as an object
of reverence for the numerous pilgrims. Fear-
ing to return without executing in some way
their master's wishes, they hurriedly gibbeted
Spanocchi on his own cross, and made off home
with all speed. No sooner were they out of
sight, than the rope broke, and Spanocchi fell
down quite safely. He was soon surrounded by
crowds of the admiring republicans, and be-
came more than ever an object of veneration ;
but, having thus so narrowly escaped, he wisely
decided not again to tempt Providence, being in
no way ambitious of a martyr's crown. He was
obdurate to the entreaties of the Sammarinesi ;
he left the Eepublic without delay, never to
return. But he left his works behind him ;
the dragon was seen no more ; and the little
monastery still exists, where a few monks drag
on their weary hours and drink their sparkling
wine regardless of the world around them.
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 107
Meanwhile Federigo d'Urbino was reaping
for himseli* those laurels which we find inscribed
in large letters around the cortile of his own
palace of Urbino. As captain-general of the
forces of the King of Naples, and Gonfaloniere
of the Church, he acquired enormous wealth,
which he devoted to the embellishment of his
cities, acd to the alleviation of the poverty of
his subjects. He assisted the Sammarinesi in
re-building and extending their wall, and, as
all writers attest, he treated our little Eepublic
with true fatherly feeling, not entirely without
self-interest, perhaps, as in his wars against
Sigismondo Mount Titanus formed an excellent
piece de resistance. Being himself well up in
letters, Federigo spent much time and trouble
in collecting books, and formed that celebrated
library of Urbino which now forms the nucleus
of the Vatican collection ; in fact, in the words
of Tasso, he ushered in that era in Urbino
which made it ' the stay and refuge of gifted
men.' In later years he received the Order of
the Garter from the English Edward IV.,
which is now seen represented on the roof
108 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
of his private studio, conspicuous amongst his
other orders.
Let us now take a glance at the Papacy,
which is to play an important part in the events
to follow. The age of Councils was now at its
height. Pressed by the Emperor on one side
and popular feeling on the other, the Popes
could do nothing but try to bias the current of
feeling, and arrange that these Councils should
be held in a place where their influence was
greatest.
Eugenius IV., with this intent, opposed to
the utmost the Council held in Basle, but it was
in vain that he busied himself at Ferrara with
trying to amalgamate the Eastern and the
Western Church, and it was in vain that he
threw obstacles in the way of this Teuton
Council. He found himself deposed by a power
stronger than his own.
Thus, after two Pontiffs of slight political
importance had occupied the chair of St. Peter,
of whom Nicholas V. tended more to develope
the rising spirit of art than to consolidate the
Papal power, the great mover in the Council of
THE REPUBLIC OP SAN MARINO. 1C9
Basle, iEneas Sylvius Piccolomini, found him-
self raised to the Pontificate under the name of
Pius II. This man, a native of Siena, had passed
through the phases of Secretary to a Pope, an
Emperor, and a Council, hence we could hardly
imagine anyone better calculated to govern the
politics of the age. By his skill the Papacy was
restored to its original footing, and freed from
external thraldom. After his day we find the
vices of a Pontiff's career in no way controlled.
Yet the pontificate of Pius II. did not form a
precedent for the school he initiated. Old and
feeble, he abandoned his former vigour of policy,
and one project alone occupied his mind, that of
a crusade, and this was only diverted by the con-
duct of Sigismondo Pandolfo. From his strong-
holds around Eimini he continued to harass his
neighbours with restless infidelity. Pederigo
d'Urbino and Sigismondo had been the pupils
of rival condottieri. They had challenged each
other to single combat, and the germs of rivalry
thus begun continued when they were established
in their respective domains. A day of satisfac-
tion, however, was in store for all enemies of the
110 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
House of Malatesta. Alfonso, King of Aragon,
had been cheated out of some money by the
crafty Sigismondo. The Pope was enraged on
account of his lawless disrespect of his feudal
superior. Federigo d'Urbino, as captain-general
of the one, and as gonfaloniere of the other, was
nothing loath to join in an alliance against his
hereditary foe.
San Marino, thus placed, had no other course
to pursue but to throw in its lot with this over-
whelming league, and thereby, as we shall see,
reaped no small advantage.
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. Ill
CHAPTER VII.
CONTINUED PROSPERITY.
A prince's greatest stronghold is his people's love.
Machiayelli, // Principe.
In the year 1453 great consternation was felt
throughout Christendom at the fall of Con-
stantinople, and the threatening aspect of the
Turks. Nowhere was there greater cause for
alarm than on the eastern coast of Italy, for
from the towers of San Marco at Venice the
smouldering fires of the Ottoman devastators
were visible.
It was with the intention of omanisincf a
crusade against these invaders that Pius II.
summoned his Council at Mantua; but the
ardour for crusades was gone, and party spirit
in Italy ran too high to allow any potentate
to think of quitting his own territories for a
precarious warfare in the East.
112 A FREAK OF FREEDOM; OR,
Thus Federigo d'Urbino, who was to have
been captain-general of this expedition, at the
very time of the sitting of the Council, was
busily engaged, with the assistance of the con-
dottiere Piccinino, in reducing Sigismondo Pan-
dolfo to order. And, perhaps, all that Pius IP
can be said to have achieved by his presence in
this part of Italy was the humble submission of
the restless Malatesta, who, hedged in on all
sides, was obliged to give way to the force of
circumstances, and appear in submission at the
Council of Mantua. In fact, the Pope hesitated,
until necessary, to drive Sigismondo to extre-
mities, fearing that he might be led to call in
Turkish aid before he could be reduced to
order.
No one, however, was readier to shake off
the cloak of humility when circumstances were
favourable than Sigismondo. By a dexterous
application of his wiles, he won over the con-
dottiere Piccinino to his side, and the following
year we learn, from letters addressed by Fede-
rigo d'Urbino to the Sammarinesi, that danger
was as;ain imminent from the side of Eimini,
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARIXO. 113
and that they had better prepare for war. At
this time an exceeding wise man, Calcigni by
name, was the Solon on Mount Titanus. Long
and weighty were his arguments to warn his
countrymen from running headlong into war.
But the Council of Twelve, assembled to consider
the point, eventually decided that Calcigni's wis-
dom was of that character which rejoices in doing
nothing ; hence the sage's words were unheeded,
and San Marino, yielding to the persuasions of
Federigo, joined the alliance between the Pope,
the King of Naples, and the Duke of Urbino,
against the House of Malatesta, and thus, almost
for the first and last time, do we find our little
Eepublic fairly launched into a war on its own
account. The war was of short duration, for
the Lord of Rimini was unable for long to hold
out against such odds. Pius thundered his ex-
communications against him, whilst Federigo
pressed him hard up to the very walls of
Rimini. And in 1463 the once stately lord of
numerous castles and towns in Romagna was
obliged to relinquish all his territories, save
Rimini and five miles around it, with a reversion
i
]14 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
on his death of even this to the Papal See,
whilst the same sentence was passed on his
brother, Domenico, Lord of Cesena.
In dividing the spoils of victory the King of
Naples was satisfied with the original debt and
his expenses paid; the Pope got 1,000 gold
ducats and a handsome list of towns to add to
the Papal dominions ; Pederigo d'Urbino there-
by won Pesaro and the coast line almost up to
the gates of Rimini, together with Verruchio
and the boundary line of the Marrechia, whilst
our little Republic was by no means neglected
in the distribution of spoil. The township of
Serravalle, containing a castle and several noble
families, likewise the hamlets of Fiorentino,
Mongiardino, and Faetano, were placed under
the government of San Marino. ' By a great
kindness of the Pope,' sneers Carlo Fea, was
this done ; but if it was kindness alone to re-
quite the assistance of an ally, at least the fact
stands as it is, that these few villages were
handed over to the Republic, and thereby its
capacity for self-government was indisputably
recognised for ever.
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARINO. 1.15
This, perhaps, forms the most brilliant era
in the lifetime of our little community, a
brilliancy which, luckily for itself, did not fur-
ther expand. Its prosperity could go thus far,
and no farther, without exciting the cupidity of
its more powerful neighbours. A further ad-
vantage accrued to San Marino out of this war :
it henceforth no longer styled itself a ' com-
munity,' but a ' republic,' and was recognised as
such through the length and breadth of Italy,
from Naples to the haughty Venice. The well-
known historian of this latter country, Pietro
Bembo, speaks of San Marino about this time
as ' an exceeding high mountain, which ad-
ministers itself as a republic, and obeys no
king.' x
Pius II. did not, however, relinquish his plan
of a crusade with this. An armament was
prepared at Ancona, whither the Pope repaired
to give it a parting blessing ; but death snatched
him away on the eve of realising his day-dream,
and with him expired all desire to arouse
Christendom in its own defence. It was Venice
1 Bembo, Storia Veuetu.
T 9
116 A FKEAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
which was to be the great bulwark of Europe
against the Ottoman encroachments, and under
the banner of San Marco the restless spirit of
Sigismondo Pandolfo found the occupation it
loved, until old age compelled him to return to
Eimini, to die on the stage of his former great-
ness Assisted by a league between Naples,
Florence, and Urbino, his illegitimate son, Eo-
berto Malatesta, managed to maintain himself as
Lord of Eimini against the claims of Paul II.
But he was essentially a man of peace, and
henceforth we hear no more of subtle plans on
the side of Eimini for enslaving the inhabitants
of Mount Titanus.
The even tenor of the next few years is
solely broken by some marriage festivities
amongst Federigo's goodly array of daughters,
at which the men of San Marino were always
present in their best attire, bringing with them
a propitiatory offering.
Out of one of these marriages sprang events
of importance for Eomagna, for Federigo had
but one son, Guidobaldo, a delicate youth,
who, though he reigned for many years after
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 117
his father, left no offspring, and hence the
duchy would have lapsed to the Holy See, had
not Federigo's daughter, Giovanna, married
Giovanni della Eovere, nephew of Sixtus IV.,
and brother of Julius II., and hence this latter
Pontiff was content to see his nephew succeed
as heir to the noble House of Feltria ; but be-
fore this event other and graver affairs were to
break the serenity which had reigned so long
in the Umbrian Mountains.
It had been the object of most of the leading
rulers in Italy to maintain this peace. Ferdinand
in Naples, Ludovico Sforza in Milan, and
Lorenzo de' Medici in Florence, were together
desirous of rest ; hence by their unity they
could keep in check the encroachments of
Venice, and procure that peace which Italy so
much required.
During this period Federigo d'Urbino
breathed his last, stricken by the plague at
Ferrara in 1482, deeply lamented by everyone,
and by none more than by the inhabitants of
Mount Titanus. His affability and generosity
in his own dominions preserved his long reign
118 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
of nearly forty years from a single insurrection.
From his stately palace he used daily to descend
into the market-place, and chat with his sub-
jects on equal terms. In fact, his whole career
is an anomaly in those times, considering the
school in which he had been trained, and the
examples he saw around him. His son and
successor, Guidobaldo I., continued the sanne
policy, but without his father's strength of cha-
racter. Towards San Marino he wffs always
kind and indulgent; but his lot was cast in
the troubled times of the Borgias, when all the
centre of Italy was disturbed by the wiles of
Alexander VI. and his son.
Cajsar Borgia's occupation of Eomagna and
his ephemeral reign on Mount Titanus form
the next episode in our history.
No characters of the middle ages have
afforded more food for commentary and more
food for scandal than the history of the Borgian
family. No character has ever been maligned
more than that of Lucrezia's, though, thanks to
the efforts of Gregorovius, much of the foul
guilt attached to her name has been washed
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MAKINO. 119
away. But no one has ever attempted in any
way to extenuate the deeds of Alexander and
his son. Bathed in the lowest depths of villany
and vice, they are names of execration amongst
their countrymen even now. ' The father never
did what he said, and the son never said what
he did,' is an Italian saying full of force, which
well describes them. Of the tales of treachery
in connection with their history, that of the
capture of Urbino is but one of the mildest, yet
serving in its way to illustrate the base treaehery
of their actions.
Dreams of an Italian unity in the person of
his son floated before the eyes of the hoary
Pontiff ; fief after fief was heaped on the grasp-
ing head of Cesare Borgia ; and French aid was
sought to further these plans. Thus with little
difficulty most of the towns of Eomagna were
reduced, and from the towers of Mount Titanus
the Papal banner was seen to float over the
towns of Rimini, Forli, and Cesena. Prudence
had always been amongst the qualities of the
Sammarinesi, and instead of offering any resist-
ance, they despatched men and money to swell
120 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
the forces of the usurper, hoping thus to avert
their doom.
But the cunning of Borgia was shortly to be
directed against Urbino. This mountain duchy
formed an eyesore in his newly-acquired duke-
dom of Komagna, and though Guidobaldo had
in every way sought to avoid a quarrel with
Cesare, yet this was not to be left an obstacle
in his path. Hence the following plan was
adopted by the Duke Cesare and his father for
reducing Urbino.
The ancient family of Varano were still lords
of Camerino, and Giulio Cesare Varano, the re-
presentative of his race, had imprudently offered
an asylum to the rebels of the Church. For this
offence Alexander VI. deprived him of his fief,
and to carry out this sentence Duke Cesare re-
paired with a small army to Perugia, at the same
time demanding of Guidobaldo d'Urbino the
use of his army to enable him to carry out his
plans. Guidobaldo, afraid to compromise himself
with so powerful a neighbour, sent all he could.
When Cesare Borgia had thus removed all the
resources of the Duke, he openly declared his
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 121
intentions against Urbino. The scare that was
created by this sudden invasion, and the en-
tire surprise with which it took the Duke, who
was quietly supping in the gardens of a convent
near Urbino, is best related by a letter which
Guidobaldo himself penned from Venice, where
he was obliged to take refuge, to the Cardinal
della Eovere, afterwards Julius II. : ' Supposing
myself in perfect security, whilst at supper, I
received several pieces of intelligence which
made me hurry back to Urbino, and there
I found a message from the authorities of
San Marino informing me that the remaining
thousand infantry of Eomagna had advanced
upon Verruchio and San Arcangelo, well
officered, and occasioning them great alarm.
Presently there reached me a letter from the
Commissioner of Cagli, intimating that the Duke
had avowed hostile intentions, and would reach
Urbino next morning. This place being in all
respects unprovided for resistance, and its de-
fences of no strength, I thought it well to make
the best of my way on horseback, together with
the Lord Prefect, three faithful people, and a
122 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
few archers to San Leo, my strongest fortress
in Montefeltro, which is accessible only by two
passes. I left instructions that matters should
be so arranged that Urbino might suffer as little
as possible, and at midnight I set out. By dawn
I reached a castle four miles distant from San
Leo, and there learned that troops from Verru-
chio and San Arcangelo, instead of marching
upon San Marino , had seized the passes of San
Leo, which was surrounded on all sides by the
men of Eimini and Cesena well-armed. On
hearing this, I despatched a person to ascertain
how things were, and took the road to Sant'
Agata, another of my Montefeltrian castles on
the confines of Tuscany and Komagna, which,
though not of great strength, was a good quarter,
and there I halted for a short rest for the horses,
then nearly dead. Dismissing the archers, I
with three mounted followers thought it best to
separate from the Lord Prefect, who with two
of his people took the most secure road to the
Val di Bagno, whilst I, disguised as a peasant,
followed the mountain paths towards the Tuscan
frontier. At about fourteen miles from Sant'
THE RErUBLIC OF SAN MABIKO. 123
Aeata, at a stream called the Borello, I was
attacked by some country people, who pursued
us with the cries of " Blood ! blood ! " When
within a bowshot of me they seized one of my
people, who carried my money, and our guide ;
but the rest of us, with great difficulty, reached
Castel Nuovo, a small place belonging to the
illustrious Signory.' Thus, after many hair-
breadth escapes, Guidobaldo reached Venice,
and San Leo alone held out for some time, until
it, too, was treasonably surrendered, and all
Eomafma was at the feet of Duke Valentino. In
such a position as this, San Marino had but one
course to pursue to retain its freedom, and that
was to throw itself on the protection of Venice,
where their protector, Guidobaldo, had found a
harbour of refuge. The Serene Eepublic, how-
ever, could send them nothing but words of
comfort and hope. 1 Thus our Eepublic, of ne-
cessity, fell into the vortex of subjugation which
the Borgias brought on this peaceful land. For
in 1503 we find a book of condemnations,
stating that some were ' passed by a learned
1 Bembo, Storia Veneta.
124 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
vice-regent, one Hercules Spaveldo, acting on
behalf of that most famous and excellent
lord, Cesare Borgia, for the territory of San
Marino.' Whilst towards the close of the same
year we again read in the same book that all
sentences were 'passed by the honourable
captains of the liberty of San Marino.' Thus in
Mount Titanus we, perhaps, see almost the last
victim of the Borgias. Their trial was short,
and there are no records of its having been so
severe as their neighbours, and San Marino
returned peaceably to its former state of govern-
ment, when Csesar's fortunes were ruined by his
father's death, and when Guidobaldo returned
to the throne of his ancestors.
The few years that still remained to him
Guidobaldo spent in the pursuit of art, and in
carrying on the works of his father. A curious
echo of the times is found in the wit levelled
against the Borsias after the return of Guido-
baldo at the Court of Urbino. A comedy was
put on the stage representing all the vices of
the family, in which an essentially religious
people joined heartily in the derisive rep re-
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARIXO. 125
sentation of their spiritual chief. Surely if
those so immediately under the eyes of Eome
could indulge in scoffing at the Papal power,
we can hardly wonder that at a distance seeds
of dissension were deeply sown by their
outrageous conduct.
The succeeding Pontificate of Julius II., if
not so culpably immoral, at least exhibits not
less openly the use made of the Papal chair to
extend family interests and party feeling. Venice
and her increasing power was the great bugbear
of this Pontiff, and when the craven-hearted
Pandolfo Malatesta, a weak scion of his house,
sold his patrimony to the Serene Eepublic, the
Pope's cup of bitterness was full. Venice also
having seized many other towns in the Eomagna,
in the anarchy incident on the fall of the Borgias,
it was thenceforth the fear of the encroaching
prosperity of their sister Eepublic which
harassed the minds of the Councillors of San
Marino.
When, on the death of Guidobaldo, the last
of the Montefeltri, a doubt arose as to the
succession of his adopted son and nephew
126 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
Francesco Maria della Eovere, it was fortunate
for Romagna and for San Marino that a pontiff
of the della Eovere name held the chair of Saint
Peter. For without the Church's support this
family could not have held its own, Venice
would have added this mountainous district to
its possessions, and our small Eepublic would
have found itself merged in the power of the
greater.
All fear of this aggrandisement of Venice was
set aside in 1508, when Julius II. manoeuvred
the league of Cambray, and foreign influence
was brought to bear on the inhabitants of the
lagunes, one of the last strongholds of Italian
freedom. Henceforth it was existence for which
Venice fought, having arrayed against her the
Pope, the Kings of France and Spain, the
King of the Eomans, and the Dukes of Savoy
and Ferrara. Our small Eepublic had now no
further cause for alarm, and Francesco Maria
found himself firmly seated on the throne of
the Feltrians.
The affection in which the Sammarinesi
held the last of their protecting race is shown
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 127
by their respect paid to Guidobaldo's remains.
A simple and touching picture of the times is
given in the old chronicle of this funeral, when
at the Church of San Benedetto, outside the
walls of Urbino, the last of the beloved race was
consigned to his massive marble tomb, in a spot
from whence the eye roves over the hilly fast-
nesses of Umbria, forming a background to the
towers of Urbino. To join the funeral cortege
were sent from San Marino ' eight Ambassadors,
or Deputies, all dressed in mourning, to assist
at the obsequies, and to unite their tears with
those of the good citizens of Urbino.'
With the House of Eovere a new era is
commenced, an era which, if not so brilliant as
the preceding one, was ushered in well for our
Republic, by the following letter addressed to the
captains by Francesco Maria, on his succession,
containing a promise, which we shall find was
amply fulfilled. This salutation ran as follows : —
' According to the ancient custom and example
of all the former lords of this my most illustrious
house, I think it right that I should continue to
be vigilant and prompt in executing all the srood
128 A FREAK OF FREEDOM; OR,
deeds of my ancestors, and more especially in
watching over your liberty, and I cannot help
reminding you that no one can feel more friendly
towards you than I do, though I am aware there
is no occasion to do so.'
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARINO.
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130 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
CHAPTER VIII.
THE STAR OF ROMAGNA BEGINS TO WANE.
But few of the weighty events which had oc-
curred on the western side of the Apennines
influenced the peace of the Umbrian Mountains.
San Marino probably heard how the French
King Charles VIII. had passed through Italy
like a meteor, and then disappeared, his ex-
ample forming a precedent for Louis XII., who
seized the Duchy of Milan, and for Ferdinand
of Aragon, who established himself in Naples.
With an extraordinary burst of patriotism,
Julius II. tried to free the peninsula from its
foreign scourges. After having sufficiently
humbled the Republic of Venice, he formed
the Holy League against the French ; but when
the French were gone the Spaniards were all
the stronger, and wound round the country a
THE EEPUBLIC OF SAX MARINO. 131
coil of fetters too heavy to be broken. We
read of the perturbation and dismay with which
the Sammarinesi received their friendly but
stately Pope, when he was hurrying northward
to join his troops. Their simple habits of life
were much disconcerted by their august visitor,
but from Bologna the Pontiff addressed them a
reassuriug letter, thanking them for their hos-
pitality, extolling their liberty, and promising an
alleviation of the duties on salt, which, how-
ever, he never fulfilled, being too busily en-
gaged in his warlike enterprises.
Difficulties, however, were again in store for
Eomagna, when the House of Medici found it-
self omnipotent on the accession of Leo X. to the
pontificate. Forgetful of the asylum afforded
to his family by the Court of Urbino, forgetful
how Elisabetta Feltria, the pious consort of
Guidobaldo, had almost adopted his brother
Giuliano, Leo X. thought fit to set up this very
brother in the Duchy of LTrbino in Francesco
Maria's stead. This worthy duke was excom-
municated without cause, and ruthlessly driven
out of his dominions bv the ambitious Pontiff.
132 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
With its accustomed prudence our Eepublic
entered into an alliance with the Medici family.
Polite letters were written to Florence, and
Lorenzo the younger interceded with his uncle
for Mount Titanus. Pieto Bembo informs us
that Leo X. was favourable to San Marino.
What did he want with this bare rock? — a
Pontiff whose sole object was to fill the papal
coffers to overflowing, to adorn his city, and to
aggrandise his family.
The satirical Ariosto has left us a good
sketch of his character in the following fable.
A shepherd once luckily discovered a deep well
in an exceedingly dry season, and had only one
small vessel with which to dispense the water
from it ; firstly, he helped himself, and secondly,
his wife, and then his dear children were per-
mitted to quench their thirst ; next in turn
came such friends as had given most assistance
in digging the well ; and then his cattle, taking
care to supply those first whose death would
cause him the greatest loss. At length a poor
parrot, much beloved by his master, cried out,
' Alas ! I am neither one of his relatives, nor
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARINO. US
did I assist in digging the well, nor am I likely
to be of more service to him in future than I
have been in times past.' It is needless to add,
that Leo was the shepherd, and Ariosto the
parrot, whose services were so greedily sought
for, but so poorly requited.
The siege of San Leo, which held out for
Francesco Maria, forms the most prominent
episode in this war. The Sammarinesi's coffers
were drained dry again and again to provide
money and food for the pontifical forces, and
much resembling the parrot in Ariosto's fable,
they only gained thereby a reprieval from the
excommunication under which the rest of Ur-
bino was put, but never got any restitution of
their goods.
With the fall of San Leo the hopes of the
Duke of Urbino were nearly exhausted, but he
somehow managed to collect together a small
force, and re-entered his dominions. But who
could fight against an enemy who could raise
200,000 ducats by the sale of thirty cardinals'
hats, net to mention by other large sums from
indulgences, the origin of which is imputed to
1.J4 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
Leo? Francesco soon found his army was
corrupted, and he was obliged to flee, bidding
a tender farewell to the inhabitants of Mount
Titanus, as he passed northwards in his rapid
flight towards Mantua, stipulating only for the
transport of his artillery, and the preservation
of the famous library, which Duke Federigo
had collected.
It is a curious feature of these times to see
all the expatriated lords hovering round their
dominions, awaiting the death of a Pope. As
it had been with Alexander VI., so it was with
Leo X. After his decease a Malatesta is seen
hurrying on the road to Rimini, a Baglione to
Perugia, and Francesco Maria to Urbino. ' We
are saved from the lion's claws,' jocosely said
this latter, as he entered his capital, and with
the lion's death his family honours relapsed to
their normal condition.
The history of the next few years in Italy
is that of the contest between France and Spain
on Italian soil. That Francis I. was captured at
Pavia was of small moment to our little State.
For them it was a time of peace when the Popes
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 135
were occupied in foreign complications, and no
schemes of occupation hovered over their heads.
The year 1530 was the date of the enslave-
ment of Italy, when Clement VII. crowned
Charles of Spain as King and Emperor. He
henceforth imposed on his country an Austro-
Spanish yoke, from the evil effects of which
Italy has not yet recovered.
Meanwhile, in Urbino, Francesco Maria was
succeeded by his son, Guidobaldo II. His
spirit was not so kindly as that of his ancestors ;
he oppressed his people with taxes, and frequent
signs of discontent showed themselves during
his long reign. An eye-witness thus quaintly
describes his accession, and the jealousies ex-
isting amongst his subjects : — ' On the following
morning there came in envoys from various
places to offer their condolences, wearing mourn-
ing-robes that swept the ground. The first
who were admitted to an audience were the
Gonfaloniere and priors from Urbino, and then
the men of San Marino. After breakfast the
other communities were admitted without order,
in consequence of a wrangle for precedence
136 A FREAK OF FREEDOM; OR,
between Gubbio and Pesaro, Cagli and Fossom-
brone, and this continued till seven o'clock in
the evening.'
No records of moment mention San Marino
in connection with the history of the times until
1542, when a mysterious attempt to occupy
Mount Titanus brought it prominently before
, the politicians of Italy.
At this time Allessandro Farnese occupied
the chair of St. Peter as Paul III. He was a
curiously cautious man, and the first part of his
pontificate is an admirable example of cards
beautifully played between the King of France
and the Emperor Charles V., and the conse-
quent aggrandisement of his family between
the two. When the Emperor refused to shower
down any more blessings on the Pope, having
given his illegitimate daughter Margaret to the
Pope's grandson Ottaviano, with the Duchy of
Parma, Paul gradually veered round towards
the side of France, and another grandson,
Orazio, is provided with an illegitimate daughter
of Henry II. And thus armed he threw all
his weight into the Anti- Spanish faction,
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 137
opposing in every way the summoning of the
Council of Trent, and even allying himself indi-
rectly with the Protestant League of Smalkalde,
It is not to be wondered at that Paul and
his family developed minor plots on their less
powerful neighbours. Guidobaldo II. was de-
prived of the Duchy of Camerino, which was
on the eve of being incorporated with Urbino ;
and though great indignation was expressed at
this, yet the external powers were too busily
engaged in their own private affairs.
Four years later, in 1542, on June 4, the
roving band of Pietro Strozzi found itself at
Eimini. The brothers Strozzi were Florentine
exiles, and travelled about the country in the
pay of the Farnese. Under cover of night
this condottiere, with five hundred infantry and
the same number of cavalry, started off on an
expedition to seize San Marino. They provided
themselves with scaling-ladders and implements
of siege, and divided themselves into two bands,
so as to take the Eepublic by surprise on two
sides. However, as usual, the elements were
in favour of San Marino ; a thick mist came on,
138 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
or, as some authors assert, a snowstorm ; but,
judging from the season, the former is more
presumable. At all events, a miracle happened,
and it was attributed to the instrumentality of
the Saint, who, in conjunction with S. Quirinus,
on whose day it chanced to fall, threw a thick
cloud round our rock ; and hence he is fre-
quently depicted as shrouding his favourite
abode with clouds, after the fashion of a hen and
her chickens. Strozzi's men lost their way in the
dark, so that by dawn they were far from Mount
Titanus, and their plots were revealed to the
inhabitants by the barking of a dog. Thus dis-
concerted, the invading army rah away, leav-
ing our brave Republicans at a loss to know
who their enemy had been, but thankful to
their Saint and his coadjutor, whose day is still
held most sacred amongst them.
Great was the compassion expressed by all
potentates who were jealous of the Papal move-
ments. Charles V. sends Sefior Bustamente de
Herreras to say, that it was none of his doing,
and offering to take the Eepublic under his im-
mediate protection. Guidobaldo of Urbino like-
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 139
wise manifests his concern, and Duke Cosmo
de Medici, of Florence, sends an embassy, offer-
ing to assist the Sammarinesi with men and
money. Thus consoled, the Kepublicans openly
state their suspicions that the Pope was at the
bottom of it, and this eventually proved to be
the case; they decline the Emperor's kind offer,
and ask only to be left in possession of their
government, under the immediate protection of
the Dukes of Urbino. Thus danger w r as again
averted, and nothing for someVears occurred
to break the peace which reigned on Mount
Titanus.
About this time Guidobaldo II. wisely con-
tracted a marriage with a niece of Paul III., and
was at peace during the remainder of his reign.
At this wedding the men from San Marino
again appear, bringing with them for a present
a large silver gilt cup, with this inscription : —
' Libertas perpetua Keipublicee Sancti Marini.'
In short, the Eepublican coffers must have been
sorely taxed by the number of delicate atten-
tions they thought fit to pay to their lordly
protectors.
140
A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
Meanwhile in Italy that wondrous blaze of
art was filling the land with every description
of beauty ; not that the story of San Marino
Raphael's street in tjewno.
requires much allusion to this, yet out of com-
pliment to the Umbrian mountains, and the
Feltrian. dynasty, we cannot in silence pass over
the existence of Kaphael and his contemporaries.
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARINO. 141
From the roof of the house where old Sanzio
lived in Urbino, and where Eaphael was born,
the distant towers of our Eepublic may be
descried ; higher up the same steep street lived
Timoteo della Vite, another great scion of the
Umbrian school, whilst even San Marino itself
boasts of having been the birthplace of Bra-
mante, an architect of no mean power. Tasso
was most closely connected with the Court of
Urbino, and had a casino close to the palace of
Pesaro, from whence he sang sweet strains
about the Duchess, of whom scandal says he was
almost too fond ; nevertheless, in his ' Einaldo '
he does ample justice to Guidobaldo's patron-
age, whom he thus describes : —
He of expression stern and brow serene,
His mien ennobled by a royal state ;
The great Francesco Maria's son is here,
In peace superior, in the field his mate ;
Beneath whose prudent sway no peril ere
Urbino's favoured duchy shall await,
While o'er her happy vales and golden plains
A joyous and enduring summer reigns.
But we must not deprive our Eepublic of
the one bright star which adorned it, a certain
142 A FREAK OF FREEDOM; OR,
Giovanni Battista Belluzzi, of the noble Samma-
rinese family of whom Ave hear so much. He
was born in 1506, and studied at Pesaro under
the Gengas, being of an architectural turn of
mind ; but returning to the isolation of Mount
Titanus, he there followed his avocation of a
wool merchant, and was lost to the world until
the above-mentioned Spanish ambassador came
to San Marino after the affair of the Strozzi in
1542. He then discovered Belluzzi's latent ta-
lents, and introduced him to Duke Cosmo of
Florence, who made him his state engineer. To
Belluzzi the fortress of San Miniato at Florence
is due, and likewise the fortifications of Pistoja,
and his advice was the means of reducing Siena,
which had so great an influence on the politics
of the day. Belluzzi affords us a fair specimen of
San Marino's brilliant sons ; they found no scope
for their ability on their native rock, and pre-
ferred to shine at some distant court to peaceful
nonentity at home. Doubtless his presence at
the ducal court of Florence was of advantage to
our State, for through his medium we constantly
hear of polite messages, not only from Duke
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 143
Cosmo, but also from the Emperor Charles V.,
to the Captains of Mount Titanus.
The exact relationship between San Marino
and Gruidobaldo II. is illustrated by a treaty of
friendship in 1549. The Duke covenants to
' defend, protect, and guard San Marino against
all persons whatsoever who may seek or wish to
injure it, whether in respect to its possessions,
subjects, state, or pre-eminence, holding its
enemies for his enemies, and its allies for his
allies, and further undertaking to accord to it
all possible aid and favour in the maintenance
of its independence and freedom.' The envoys
of San Marino, on behalf of the Eepublic, cove-
nant ' with all their exertion and power to
assist, uphold, and preserve the subjects, state,
honour and dignity of the said Lord Duke
against whatsoever person, state, or potentate
may make attempts against him, promising to
hold the friends of his Excellency as their
friends, and his foes as their foes, and to pay
him at all times the respect due to a faithful
and good protector.'
From the death of Guidobaldo, for almost
144 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
two whole centuries, the history of Italy is one
of abject slavery ; the history of San Marino is
one of decadence and constitutional weakness.
Francesco Maria II., the last Duke of the Eovere
line, was constantly away, as general of Philip II.
of Spain, and though his territory enjoyed com-
parative peace, yet the constant drain on its
resources, and the absence of a sufficient armed
force to keep off the Saracen marauders, made
their condition pitiable in the extreme ; famine
followed famine, with pestilence in its train.
But, nevertheless, the inhabitants clung with
favour to this their last Duke, and looked with
fear at the approaching extinction of the Eovere
family, for Francesco Maria had no son ; how-
ever, when all hope of male offspring seemed
past, the Duchess presented him with a son, and
he was called Federigo, a fine handsome child,
who is principally known to posterity by the
picture of him by Baroccio, in gorgeous swad-
dling clothes, amongst the Fitti collection in
Florence. For this last scion of the noble house
ruined his health with early debaucheries, and
died some years before his father, whose spirits
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARINO. 145
became so broken by his trials and approaching
old age, that he relinquished the reins of govern-
ment in 1631, and Urbino lapsed to the Holy
See during the pontificate of Urban VIII.
Beyond a slight spar with Paul IV. about a
sentence the Eepublic had passed, and which
the Pontiff professed to disapprove, no external
complications occurred during the latter years
of the ducal government. This was eventually
settled by the intervention of the Dukes of
Urbino, not before Paul had indignantly sum-
moned the Captains before him at Eome, and
the Republicans had as indignantly refused.
Indeed it is truly wonderful that San Marino
got off so easily from the grasp of so rigid a
Pontiff, who looked at freedom as akin to heresy;
but his eyes were turned north of Italy, and the
small harbour of liberty was allowed to linger
near home, whilst the horrors of the Inquisition
and the espionage of the Jesuits elsewhere, had
so far enchained men's minds as to break the
spirit of even haughty Venice.
After the peace of Cateau Cambresis in
1558, the power of Philip of Spain was so
L
140 A FREAK OP FREEDOM ; OR,
dominant in Italy that tlie merest shadow of
her former individuality was left. Amongst
free communities Venice alone continued to
be of any importance, though showing many
signs of decay, whilst Genoa and Lucca, though
nominally free, were all but in name subject to
Spain. Thus San Marino, even then, was almost
the last of its class in Italy, whilst other free
communities had been absorbed b}~ despots and
had fallen sacrifices to party spirit, San Marino
alone continued the same, owing its preservation
to its integrity and to its nonentity in the social
scale.
When Francesco Maria felt old age coming
on, and no chance of an heir to sit on his
throne, he had prudently advised the inhabitants
of San Marino to draw up an agreement with
the Pontiff, who would henceforward be their
protector. This was postponed for some years,
on the birth of a son, as above mentioned ;
but when eventually it became necessary a
most satisfactory agreement was drawn up witli
Urban VIII., a quiet well-meaning man, who
had no ambitions for extending his temporal
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 147
dominions if he had been able so to do. By
this agreement the Sammarinesi reserved their
entire liberty, as it had been in the times of the
dukes, and their entire jurisdiction, save only
and except the sovereign power of the Pope, a
sovereign power which the Pontiffs professed to
exercise over the whole of the Catholic world,
and which in no way interfered with San
Marino's exercise of its favourite liberty. In
addition to this, he gave them the right of ex-
port and import through the Papal dominions,
which had previously been subject to a tax
called ' dnquiria.'
On this change of government not a claim
was made to appropriate the rock, and affairs
went on exactly as of yore on the summit of
Mount Titanus, save only the voice of one bishop
was raised to complain of this nest of liberty in
the heart of slavery. But as his pen was more
fluent in writing dissertations on the revelations
of St. Brigida, and other saintly lore, little heed
was given to his writings on the subject of a
Papal occupation of Mount Titanus.
Over the bridge of decadence incident on the
L48 A FKEAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
protectorship of the Holy See let us hurriedly
pass ; in its nature it is purely constitutional,
one scene of laxity of laws, of laxity of principle,
which must have eventually led to entire dis-
ruption of the whole frame of government. A
paucity, too, of reports, makes the period one
vast chaos, which is only relieved by the pleasing
struggle to reform the laws, related in a later
chapter. At this period of entire weakness, as
with the rest of Italy, the grandest names were
most in vogue. The captains together took the
name of '77 principe,' and the Council styled
itself ' Blustre et generate Concilium almce Rei-
publicce illustris libertatis terrce Sancti Marini:
Thus, says Sisraondi, ' no one addressed his shoe-
maker without calling him " molto illustre" and
a petty militia officer was grievously wounded
by being addressed " Chidrissimo ed eccellen/is-
simo" if he aimed at the title of u ^lll(str^ss^mo. ,,,
The causes of this decadence w T ere many and
various ; in the first place, there was a lack of
regular administration of justice, the Council
did not meet at the stated times, and when they
did. their number was never complete ; secondly,
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARINO. 149
the lack of public education was a sore defi-
ciency in so small a State, where offices were so
frequently changed and there were so few to fill
them. Besides this, when anyone found him-
self educated to a certain standard he went to
more extended spheres. And thus it was with
the rich, as this barren rock afforded but few
enjoyments for those who had put a little money
too-ether. Hence absenteeism inflicted all its
disadvantages on our State. In addition to this,
the number of exiles from other States gave
rise to much brigandage around Mount Titanus,
and the Government had to go to the expense
of keeping up a force, called ' Salvicondotti,' to
maintain the public safety. Nevertheless, at this
time the citizenship of San Marino seems to have
been much esteemed, for amongst their number
appear the names of many noble families from
Rimini, Urbino, and Pesaro.
But before the life-blood of San Marino was
entirely extinct a stirring episode was to occur,
which combines the authenticity of history with
the flavour of romance — an episode which re-
called all the latent energies of the State, and to
loO A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
which, perhaps, more than to any other cause,
it owes its preservation to this date. And this,
perhaps, is of greater interest from the fact that
one of the leading characters of Europe in those
days was the hero of it. In the next chapter we
will investigate this, revival of the constitution,
and the circumstances which led to it.
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARINO. 151
CHAPTER IX.
THE CARDINAL ALBERONI.
' Alberoni,' said Pope Benedict XIV T . 'is like a glutton who,
after a good dinner, would fain have some brown bread.'
A violent attempt made on San Marino's liberty
during the last century, and the means by which
it was perpetrated, must be prefaced by a short
sketch of the life of the perpetrator. When
Europe was pacified by the treaty of Utrecht
in 1713, and the alarm at the power of the
Bourbons was in a measure quelled, Philip V. of
Spain groaned in his weakness at the loss of his
fair Italian possessions. But he did not abandon
all hopes of recovering them, more especially
as those hopes were fostered by the insinuations
of his Prime Minister, who, regardless of all
treaties and rules of honour, again attempted to
152 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
break the peace of Europe in order to gain his
ends, and this Prime Minister was the Cardinal
Egidio Alberoni.
The mushroom growth of this arch-plotter is
one of the most curious in history. The illegi-
timate offspring of a gardener and a spinning -
girl at San Lazzaro, near Piacenza, he entered
life as apprentice to a cook, and occasionally
turned an honest penny by acting in comedies.
Finding, however, that the Church offered the
most favourable opening for such talents, he
became a Sacristan, and then took orders,
eventually becoming a Canon and Private Chap-
lain to the Bishop of Borgo San Donino. Thus,
having gained a position from which to start in
the political world, his future successes were
still more rapid. He had occasion to transact
some minor points of detail with the Marshal
Vendome, who was then commanding the
French forces in Lombardy in the war of the
Spanish succession, about 1703. The Duke
recognising Alberoni's transcendent abilities for
diplomacy, forthwith chose him as his constant
attendant ; and Alberoni received a regular
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARINO. 153
salary from Louis XIV. of France for his
services, and followed the fortunes of his
new master into the Spanish peninsula, being
frequently brought into connection with the
Court of Spain and the intrigues of Philip V.
By negotiating the marriage between Elizabeth
Farnese, the sister and heiress of the Duke of
Parma, and King Philip, Alberoni put the
crowning point to his fortunes. This act was
most distasteful to the House of Austria and
the rest of Europe, for thereby the Bourbons
got other claims, and fresh opportunities for in-
trigues on Italian soil. Elizabeth Farnese, how-
ever, now found herself all-powerful in Spain ;
she ruled her husband and the country through
the assistance of Alberoni, who was nominated
successively a member of the Council of State,
Bishop of Malaga, and Primate of Spain. The
Primate's first step was to restore the shattered
condition of Spain, its army, navy, and finance,
and having in a measure succeeded, he forthwith
threw himself headlong into plots for breaking
the treaty of Utrecht, and re-establishing the
Spanish rule in Italy.
lo4 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
It is curious to follow out the depths of
Alberoni's policy against the nations whose
interference he feared in his plans. In England
he fomented the risings in favour of the Old
Pretender, in France he excited the Protestants
of the south to rebellion, whilst against Austria
he is found to have been in direct correspon-
dence with Ragatschy in Transylvania, and with
the Sultan, which obliged the Emperor to re-
call Prince Eugene from his command in
Italy. Having thus given his enemies plenty of
occupation, Alberoni secretly manned a fleet
at Barcelona and proceeded to seize Sardinia,
which was badly protected, and with a second
fleet he came down upon Sicily. But Europe
was by this time roused against him; he was
everywhere cried down as a robber, a pirate, a
breaker of the peace of nations. The despoiled
King Victor Ainadeo of Savoy hurried to all
the Courts of Europe, and by his exertions
got up the quadruple alliance against Spain, be-
tween England, France, Austria, and the Low
Countries.
The hatred against Alberoni was universal;
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 155
his own master hated him for his machinations
with his wife ; the Pope, Clement XI., hated his
busy Cardinal, whom he had only raised to the
purple on the entreaties of Elizabeth Farnese ;
the nations all hated him for his cunning ; and,
finally, Elizabeth herself began to hate him for
his domineering manner; and then, in 1719,
the favourite was driven from Spain execrated
by all, and with him went his plans of Spanish
aggrandisement. Alberoni then took to defend-
ing himself by the press, laying the whole blame
of his conduct on the King of Spain's Confessor,
Daubanton, and insinuating that the Pope him-
self was not altogether averse to it. For this
the Cardinal was to have been had up before
the Inquisition, had not Clement XL died, con-
veniently for Alberoni, and the world wondered
to see the face of the Cardinal again in Eome,
voting for the election of Innocent XII., and
again in favour at the Vatican. For some time
he continued to live in Eome, turbulent and
intriguing as ever, until Innocent XII. deter-
mined to despatch him as legate to the Eomagna.
where, amongst the mountains his scope for
156 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
injury would be less, though his desire for
intrigues was in no way abated.
The year 1789, a year memorable in the
annals of San Marino, found Alberoni, the legate
of Innocent's successor, Clement XII., esta-
blished at Eavenna. Still with the same restless
mind, and since his wider schemes of re-annexing
Sardinia and Sicily to Spain had failed, he was
content to occupy himself with projects for
handing down his name to posterity as the
annexer of our little Eepublic to the Holy See.
Meanwhile the affairs of San Marino had
been growing rapidly worse and worse. The
inhabitants appeared to think that the Govern-
ment would proceed satisfactorily if left to
itself, and the number of the Council had again
and agaimbeen reduced by law. The rejected
ones left their country in disgust, and through
a meanness of spirit preferred to see the Pontifi-
cate ruling in San Marino, since they themselves
had neglected to participate in the government,
and hence had been deemed unfit members of
it. To these Alberoni was always polite, he
likened their Captains to Pietro Gradenigo of
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 157
Venice, and easily got them to give their con-
sent to the desired annexation, and on this lie
built his plans.
It is quite clear that plenty of food was
given for Alberoni's schemes by the decadence
on Mount Titanns, and he was not slow to avail
himself of it. Some criminals condemned by
the Eepnblic pleaded that they came under the
jurisdiction of the Sacred House ofLoreto, near
Ancona. To enforce this plea they applied to
Alberoni, who immediately ordered the San
marinesi to deliver them up. Their refusal to
do this so greatly enraged the Cardinal that he
lost no time in furthering his plans for depriving
them of their liberty. Several innocent Sam-
marinesi, who were about their business at
Eavenna, were arrested ; goods which were on
their way to San Marino were seized in the
transport ; and all the approaches to the Ee-
pnblic were blocked up by Alberoni's hired
bravos ; but more formidable than all was a
letter written to Eome in which he painted San
Marino in the blackest colours. Thus he wrote :
' San Marino is a very Geneva in the heart of
158 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
the Papal States, harbouring the enemies of
God and the Saints alike, a hot-bed of tyrants,
and if any hostile prince should seize it he
would make of it a strong standpoint from
which to attack the Pontifical dominions.
Moreover, San Marino is a beam in the Holy
eyes, a nest of dissensions, robbery, and rapine,
which it is necessary to suppress ; and, more-
over, it is the sincere wish of the people to be
incorporated in your Holiness's territory.'
Clement XII. was a feeble octogenarian, and
a man of upright tendency, but entirely under
the control of his nephews, the Cardinals Orsini
and Firrao, who probably wished to carve out
of San Marino a small principality for them-
selves. 1 Hence they distrusted Alberoni, and
wrote back word to him that they would
visit San Marino themselves, and see whether
the inhabitants were thus eager to deliver up
the reins of government. But above all, his
orders were to use prudence ! With such in-
structions, and his plans being thus foiled,
Alberoni determined not to hesitate, but to
1 Botta, Istoria (T Italia.
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 159
take the law into his own hands ; for revenue
he would have, and his custom was not to be
scrupulous in his ways of obtaining it. Out of
the predatory bands and ruffians of Eomagua,
Alberoni proceeded to form a little army for
his enterprise of annexing San Marino to the
Pope's dominions, whether the Pope or the
inhabitants wished it or no.
It was a sorry day for the peaceful Eepub-
licans wdien Alberoni appeared at Serravalle
with his followers, and demanded the surrender
of everything, in the name of the Pope. Some
surrendered unconditionally, some fled to the
church, some remained in sullen silence in the
houses, whilst others fled from their native rock,
and sought refuge and assistance from the
sister Eepublic of Venice.
From Alberoni's own account we gather
that he assembled all who had thus uncondi-
tionally surrendered, and took their votes for
the unanimous submission of the whole Eepublic ;
a deed of surrender was drawn up in the Borgo,
and on October 25 Alberoni took possession of
the Castle in the name of the Pope, and from
1G0
A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
the tower of the Eocca was seen floating in
the pure air of liberty the banner of Papal
slavery. On the following day a ceremony of
entire submission was planned by the Cardinal ;
it was to take place before the altar of the
CITADEL OF SAN LEO.
patron Saint, before the very threshold of
liberty. A choral service was to be held, with
all the pomp of sacerdotal magnificence ; the
Captains and leading inhabitants were to take
the oatli of allegiance to the Papal See ; whilst
outside the temple were posted a number of
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 1G1
Alberoni's soldiers in case of any disturbance.
And thus all was arranged according to the
Cardinal's heart.
Before the assembled multitude two or
three hurriedly took the oath, intimidated by
all they saw, the choir chanted magnificently
in response, and all seemed to be passing off
most smoothly. When, however, it came to
the turn of the Captain Giangi, he thus re-
sponded bravely to the Cardinal, ' On the first
of October I swore fealty to my legitimate
Prince, the Eepublic of San Marino, which oath
I confirm, and thus I swear.' These noble
sentiments were followed by GuiseDpe Onofri,
who stated in addition that he was a Samma-
rinese and not a Soman ; whilst one Girolamo
Gozi turned complacently towards the Cardinal,
and, quoting Scripture, exclaimed, 'May this
cup pass from me ; I never have disgraced my
patron saint, and I never will.' Upon which
all took up the cry of ' Viva la liberta V until the
whole edifice resounded.
Upon this ebullition of feeling the worthy
Cardinal entirely lost his self-respect, his face
M
1C2 A FREAK OF FREEDOM; OR,
looked awful, and his language was still more
so, as, says the chronicler of these events, ' it
was an anger more befitting a gardener of
Piacenza than an Ex-Prime Minister of Spain,
a Prince of the Eoman Church, and a papal
legate. And so grave was this excess of pas-
sion that the priests were alarmed, and hastily
finished the ceremony amidst a confusion and
hubbub which did not belong to religion, or
to an assembly deliberating on the gravest
affairs of State.'
After this exhibition of truly Spartan
heroism, it is most mortifying to have to relate
that on the following day the Council in de-
liberation determined to present their humble
submission to Alberoni. It is a fact slurred
over by most of the Eepublican eulogists, but
still the document is extant to attest to the
craven-heartedness of the Councillors who felt
it their duty to ' protest their vassalage and to
beg for mercy ;' and this document, moreover,
amongst other signatures bears that of a
; Giangi,' not the same, however, who had
spoken out so bravely in the church, for
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARINO. 163
Alberoni had carefully lodged the non-jurors
in prison. Certainly the odds against them
were fearful, and their dismay excusable, yet,
nevertheless, the story reads much better for
San Marino when this abject submission is left
out altogether.
In this state of entire surrender San Marino
was a prey to the ruthlessness of its conqueror.
Alberoni ruled over the inhabitants as sovereign
and legislator. He condemned some to prison,
and rifled the houses of others, until at length
in their great misery the inhabitants secretly
sent off an embassy to the Pope, imploring him
to remove the obnoxious Cardinal, and to allow
affairs to go on in the same channel as they
had done before.
A graphic account of the feelings of the
people about this time is found in a letter
sent by the noble Sammarinese, Girolamo
Gozi, to his son, who was studying in the
Papal States. After describing his country's
misfortunes, and the Cardinal's severity to those
who remained firm to their country, he thus
concludes : ' Being assured that his Excellency
M 2
104 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
would receive us, we went to salute him, and
obtained pardon, with the restitution of our
property, of which, however, we all only received
the remnants, and such things as they did not
want. ... I am glad you are in good health,
my son ; the same is the case with us, though
poor. Be cheerful, for San Marino is of a
truth a great man. My inkstand and silver
powder box are gone, and for a candlestick I
use with all cheerfulness a bottle.'
Another faithful citizen of San Marino,
Antonio Belzoppi by name, on Alberoni's
arrival betook himself to Venice, hoping there
to get assistance for his country. His adventures,
as related, are curious, and run as follows : —
Having escaped down one of the most precipi-
tous slopes of the mountain, Belzoppi made the
best of his way to the Serene Republic, and
when there busied himself much in seeking aid
for his oppressed fellow-countrymen. When
Alberoni discovered this he was exceeding
wroth, and hired myrmidons at Venice to do
away with the obnoxious Belzoppi. One night
whilst the Sammarinese was returning home from
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARTNO. 165
a party on foot, three of these bravos fell upon
him and tried to stab him. Belzoppi, however,
managed to reach his gondola, followed by his
enemies, who had theirs also at hand. Then
ensued a chase down the Grand Canal out into
the open lagune, until at length Belzoppi was
overtaken, and a fierce combat took place, in
which Belzoppi worsted his foes, killing the
bravos and their gondolier with his dao-o-er.
No sooner, however, was he freed from this
danger than a fresli one awaited him through
the upsetting of his gondola, and poor Belzoppi,
who was not expert in the art of swimming,
nearly found a watery grave ; when just as he
was giving himself up for lost, he bethought
himself of his patron saint, and called on him
for help. Belzoppi then relates how he saw
the clouds open suddenly, and San Marino's
face appeared looking down upon him as he
struggled on; from that moment he could swim
quite easily, and reached the land without any
further difficulty. This circumstance soon be-
came well known, and all the noblest and
wealthiest Venetians rivalled each other in
16(3 A FREAX OF FREEDOM ; OR,
showing him civilities. Nay, even they became
so anxious to be related to him that many
offered him their daughters in marriage. But
Antonio Belzoppi, though not blessed with this
world's goods, had a large and faithful heart ;
he remembered his wife and children at San
Marino, and returned thither after Alberoni's
tyranny was overpast, an object of almost
veneration to his countrymen, who frequently
raised him to the dignity of Captain and to the
post of prophet amongst them.
Alberoni, before taking his departure from
Mount Titanus, left a governor thereon to carry
out his dictates, and exercise jurisdiction as in
the other Pontifical dominions. But this time
of trial did not last long. The old Pope and
his Cardinal nephews were easily roused to a
sense of Alberoni's enormities by the envoys
from San Marino. Enrico Enriquez, a Nea-
politan, eminent for virtue, and afterwards a
Cardinal, was dispatched by the Pope to inves-
tigate the matter, to take the votes of the people,
and if so be they w r ished it to annul the acts of
Alberoni, but in all things to use his right
THE REPUBLIC OP SAX MARINO. 107
judgment. Moreover, he was empowered to
rectify the evils which had sprung up in our
little State prior to Alberoni's occupation, and
to establish the old principles of government
under which Mount Titanus had spent so
many happy centuries.
It was with unfeigned delight that the
Sammarinesi heralded the arrival of Enriquez
amongst them. Every inhabitant of Mount
Titanus was scrutinised and catechised, monks,
nuns, and priests included, in all of whom the
love of their native liberty was pre-eminent.
No Geneva was here found, as Alberoni sug-
gested, but a community as it exists to-day,
a humble-minded, priest-trodden people, with
curious ideas about freedom of legislature,
which so rarely goes hand-in-hand with religious
servitude. But, as Girolamo Gozi said, ' San
Marino was indeed a great man,' and experi-
ence had taught these shrewd mountaineers
that it was safer to owe allegiance to a dead
saint than to a living Pope.
In the reports sent by Enriquez to head-
quarters, the Pope could hardly be compli-
168 A FllEAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
merited to hear that 'there were few lovers of
Roman sovereignty, but many lovers of liberty ;' l
whilst, at the same time, he stated that this ap-
peared to him not a fierce, but a quiet Kepublic,
on which liberty had been born and flourished
for many centuries, and was not yet so dege-
nerate as not to be able to throw off those vices
which had taken seed therein; and that- Rome
could not do better than allow San Marino to
live as it had done before, only asking to be
left alone. Thus it followed that this miserable
interregnum continued only for the space of
three and a half months — a time of grief and
suspense for the inhabitants of Mount Titanus,
but a salutary lesson which stood them in good
stead for the future.
On Febr uary 5. 1740. Clftmont, XTT re-
stored in full the li berties of the Republic ,
al most with his last bre^ 1 , for h p r ^ p ^ nn *V
following day. His successor^ Benedict XIV. ,
c onfirmed these ; and together these two Popes
are almost worshipped as benefactors of the
State. Certain it is that, during this period,
1 Botta, Istoria (TItalia.
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 1(39
San Marino owed much to the clemency of the
Pontiffs ; but Alberoni had become a character
of such world-wide notoriety that the Popes
were probably only too glad of so easy a means
of proving to the world their repugnance to his
policy. This, at all events, was a saving point
in the history of San Marino. What Alberoni
sought to effect by a rapid blow would have
been easily brought about by a few more years
of natural decay ; and had it been left alone it
is certain that Napoleon, some sixty years later,
would scarcely have been led to say, ' Let us
preserve it as a pattern,' or have done homage
to this little spot like a capricious giant caress-
ing a dwarf.
Great was the delight and enthusiasm dis-
played on Mount Titanus on receiving the news
of their restored freedom. It was carved in gold
letters on marble, and placed at the entrance
of the city, so that all might read. Pictures
of the Pontiff, and of S. Agatha, on whose day
the propitious event occurred, were painted and
placed on either side of the patron saint in the
Council-room, to assist with their presence the
170 A FREAK OF FREEDOM; OR,
affairs of State; and February 5 was ordained
as a festival for ever, to commemorate the re-
vival of the ancient regime.
A procession leaves the Borgo on the morn-
ing of this day, of girls in white, dressed as genii,
signifying the different virtues. This procession
is preceded by two little girls, dressed also in
white, carrying the banner of the Republic, on
which is symbolised ' liberty ; ' another carries
the sword and balances, to represent justice ;
also a band of youths are in attendance, carry-
ing lighted candles, to provide which a legacy
was left by a member of the noble House of
Gozi. Tradition says that this procession owed
its origin to the advice of some neighbouring
peasantry, who, on the eve of S. Agatha, saw a
like procession wending its mystic way up the
sides of the mountain.
Thus it followed that, after the lapse of a
hundred years, the zealous inhabitants deter-
mined to hold a grand festival and gala to com-
memorate the event. As February 5 is usually
inclement on this mountain top, September 3,
the day of San Marino, was chosen for the cele-
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 171
bration of this festa. To do honour to this
occasion San Marino put forth all its energies ;
wonderful tilings in balloons and fireworks
astonished these retired glens. A piece was
written for representation in the theatre ; a
masked ball was given, and great religious fes-
tivals took place in the parish church ; and for
eight successive days the sacred head of St.
Marinus was exposed to receive the kisses of
the faithful.
On the minds of the older inhabitants this
festival is still deeply impressed as the one great
gala day of their lives. When once the tongues
of the housewives are loosened on this topic, it
behoves the visitor patiently to listen to a de-
scription of all the dresses at the masked ball,
and how the gaudy tinsel of the genii was un-
fortunately spoilt by a shower of rain. All
this happened nearly forty years ago, but it is
still the favourite topic of the aged.
But what of Alberoni during this time?
Benedict XIV., no lover of this proud Cardinal,
removed him from this district of Romagna to
Bologna, where in retirement, and under the
172 A FREAK OP FREEDOM ; OR,
biting influence of lost glory, he published a
work on his conquest of Mount Titanus, in
which he visits the Papacy, the Sacred College,
and our little Republic with all the contumely
which a revengeful spirit could invent. This
led to a literary war, which filled the Vatican
with letters without end, on the subject of San
Marino, and at least had the effect of giving a
notoriety to Mount Titanus, which, prior to this,
had fallen into oblivion ; whilst the constitu-
tion recovered from this shock its former posi-
tion, private disputes were put aside, and the
Republic took out, so to speak, a new lease of
existence.
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 173
CHAPTER X.
NAPOLEON IN ITALY.
Quand se lassera-t-on d'inquioter ces paisibles habitans d'une
contree, qu'on a appelee un atorne politique, et qu'il faut res-
pecter tout atome qu'il est, car la il y a plus de sagesse, de vertu
veritable, de prudence et de bon sens que dans tant de contrees
qui vantent presomptueusement leurs rnerites. — Artaud de
Montor.
For the space of forty years after the peace of
Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748, Italy enjoyed a period
of rest, at least from war, though suffering much
from the tyranny of her many rulers. The
growth of the House of Savoy formed the most
marked point of this period. That rule was
despotic, but a healthy tone pervaded it ; whilst
in Naples the countenance given by the Bour-
bon sovereigns to all kinds of lawlessness led to
a state of anarchy, which made the southern
provinces a prey to the greatest misery.
An undercurrent of liberal principles, how-
174 A FKEAK OF FREEDOM; OR,
ever, as in France, led to the foundation of
every species of secret societies. But that which
led to the French Ee volution never fully deve-
loped itself on Italian soil. The Carbonari and
Freemasons were kept down with a strong hand
by the Popes and other despots, and the want
of unity in this case proved a safeguard for
Italy against the bitterness of the Eevolution,
which nearly ruined France. Curious papers
have lately come to light, which prove that the
Freemasons intended to seize San Marino, and
form it into a basis of operations. The Cardi-
nal Chiaramonti, afterwards Pius VII., and then
in close connection with the Court of Pius VI.,
discovered this plot in 1790, and saved the
Kepublic. He wrote from Imola, stating ' that
the Freemasons had taken minute information
as to the situation and fortifications of Mount
Titanus, with a view to seizing it. Poor Sam-
maranesi ! Quite ignorant of the wiles of their
enemies around them, they went on in inno-
cent enjoyment of their self-government. Their
annals never show any feelings of alarm about
this time ; and had it not been for a kindly
THE KEPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 175
supervision from without, the tragedy of Albe-
roni might have been re-enacted with twofold
misery.
But other and more stirring events were
shortly to awaken Italy from its state of depres-
sion, its miserable plots and counterplots. An
echo of freedom was heard from . across the
Alps, that degenerate and transient freedom
which shook France to its basis, but which in
the end laid the foundation of modern society.
In 1796 the northern invaders entered Italy
under General Napoleon Buonaparte, flaunting
the flag of liberty, and inculcating the spirit of
revolution, as they had done in France, when
rulers and despots were overthrown, and priests
and prayer-books were scattered to the winds.
The glorious victories of the French general
were reported to the inhabitants of Mount
Titanus, and they trembled in their insignifi-
cance to hear of Lodi, of the fall of Venice, and
other marvellous exploits, and they were so far
imbued with the spirit of the times as to give
up their noble families. 1 But otherwise they
1 Vide chapter xiv.
170
A FREAK OF FREEDOM; OR,
could only wait to be swallowed up in Napa -
leon's chaot ic abyss.
When, on February 7, 1797, the invincible
ge neral was lodged at Pesaro, and on his being
jeeringly asked what should be done with the
Republic of San Mari no, he exclaimed, ' Con -
SAN MARIXo FROM ACyEAVI VA.
servons-la comme un echantillqn_de_re ^ublique,''
and with this the existenc e of San Marino wa s
preserved. For Napoleon w T as not then the
^.poleonof _Brumaire 18, or of _1804j^ hjTstil 1
had some pre tensions at form, and to seize San
Marino would have been an anachronism, and a
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARINO. 177
folly for a man in his position, and with the
views he then professed .
To certify his bro^^ly 'V'd f i'i^ivl1y feeling
for _the little Bepublic. N apoleon dispatched his
friend and companion, Monge, a truly curious
man, who had left the post of professor of
mathematics and physics, and inventor of can-
nons, to join in the construction of Napoleon's
fortunes. He followed Buonaparte in his cam-
paigns in Italy and Egypt, and occupied many
posts of honour in both. But he is chiefly
celebrated for his keen eye for the value of
antiquities. To him, rather than to Napoleon,
is due the credit of devastating so many of the
Italian museums, and carrying off the works of
art he there found to beautify the galleries of
Paris. Monge also published many valuable
works on various scientific subjects, and, judg-
ing from his harangue to the Republicans of
San Marino, his flow of language must have
been great. As Monge's interview with the
Council of San Marino forms a curious specimen
of forensic blarney on the one hand, and un-
cultured astuteness on the other, I will here
N
178 A FREAK OF FREEDOM; OR,
transcribe it, as it is entered in the archives, word
for word. Introduced before the Council of
Sixty, bearing Napoleon's message of peace, he
thus thought fit to address our hardy mountain-
eers. ' That liberty which, in the palmy days
of Athens and Sparta, transformed Greece into
a people of heroes ; that liberty, which, in the
times of the Republic, wrought prodigies at
Rome, which, during the short interval of its
existence in some of the Italian towns, re-
newed the sciences and the arts, and illuminated
Florence ; that liberty, I say, was almost
entirely banished from Europe ; it alone
existed at San Marino, where, through your
wisdom, citizens, and more especially through
your virtues, its asylum has been defended
through so long a course of years. The French
nation, after being enlightened for a century,
began to blush at its slavery, and is now free ;
all Europe, blinded to its own interests, and
above all, to the interests of mankind at large,
coalesced and armed itself against her. Her
neighbours covenanted together for a partition
of her territory ; all her frontiers were simul-
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARLVO. 179
taneously attacked, her fortresses and her ports
were in the power of the enemy, and that
which afflicted her most was the fact that in
France herself a precious part of her population
spread civil war, and forced her to strike blows
which fell on her own head. Alone in the
midst of so great a storm, without experience,
arms, or leaders, France rushed to her frontiers,
and offered resistance on every side, and on
every side was triumphant ; then the wisest of
her enemies retreated, and the success of her
army obliged the rest to implore for peace,
which they obtained. Now, indeed, there re-
main but three, and they are infatuated, and
listen to no counsel, but that of pride, of
jealousy, and of hatred. One of the French
armies has now entered Italy, and has over-
thrown four Austrian armies, one after the
other, carrying liberty into this fair land, and
covering itself with immortal honour, almost
under your very eyes. The French Eepublic,
with regret at so much bloodshed, and content
at having given a grand example to the universe,
now proposes a peace, which it could dictate.
N 2
180 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
Would you credit it, my citizens ? every-
where these propositions are rejected with
scorn, or eluded with craft. The Italian army,
to gain that peace, is obliged to pursue its
enemies, and to pass close by your territories.
I am deputed by General Buonaparte, in the
name of the French Eepublic, to assure the
Republic of San Marino of his peaceful inten-
tions, and of his inviolable friendship. Citizens,
the political constitution of the people who sur-
round you is open to change ; and if any part
of your frontier is absolutely necessary to you,
I am charged by the Geiieral-in-Chief to beg
of you to let him know. It will be with the
greatest readiness that he will thereby enable
the French Eepublic to give you a clear proof
of its sincere friendship ; as for myself, I am
content to have been the organ in a mission,
which must be so pleasing to two Republics,
and which affords me an occasion to prove to
you the veneration with winch you inspire all
true lovers of liberty.'
From Napoleon's subsequen t conduct we can
but argue that he wished to make San Marino
O . ,
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 181
the centre of one of th ose numerous Republics
w_ith which he sto cked Italy, and out of w hich
he looked to carving kingdoms and principali-
ties for hi s relations a nd cleservTng^enerals.
T hus, shortly after, we find this part_ of_Italy
rejoicing in the name of the Cisalpine Republic ,
whilst there were also set up the Ligurian, the
Cispadane, and the Tiberine Republics, with
Genoa, Bologna, and Rome as their respective
capitals. Naples followed in the next year as
the Parthenopsean Republic. And some few
years after this we find Joseph Buonaparte,
and after him Joachim Murat as successive
kings of this last, whilst Eugene Beauharnais
ruled over the Cisalpine and Ligurian Republics
combined. Whatever may have been his in-
tentions with regard to San Marino, certain it
is that all danger was warded off by the shrewd
and politic answer of Antonio Onofri, who w^as
then the leading spirit on Mount Titanus. An-
swering Monge's speech in flowing strain,
Onofri thus prefaced his refusal of this brilliant
offer. ' Your army, and its young and valiant
leader, who unites the talents of genius with the
182 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
virtues of the hero, follow in the steps of
Hannibal, and recall the wonders of ancient
days ; your eyes are now turned on a spot of
ground where the debris of primitive liberty
has sought an asylum, and on which the preci-
sion of Sparta is more conspicuous than the
elegance of Athens.' But, as of yore, he con-
tinued, San Marino only asked to be left alone,
and Monge returned to his master's camp to
communicate the humble but sagacious reply
of the Sammarinesi.
Thus another great danger to San Marino's
existence was averted. Had they been tempted
by Napoleon's specious offer, our Eepublicans
would without doubt have been swamped in
the future arrangement of kingdoms, whereas
by retaining their pristine insignificance, they
were able to treat with the other Eepublics and
kingdoms as they came into existence in the
position they had always held for so many
centuries.
Shortly after Monge's visit, Napoleon vouch-
safed to write himself to the Eepublic a letter,
dated from Modena, February 28, 1797, in
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 188
which he says : ' The citizen Monge has de-
scribed to me, citizens, the touching picture
which your little Eepublic presented to him.
I have given orders that the citizens of San
Marino shall be exempt from all contributions,
and respected throughout the French Eepublic.
I have also given orders to the General
Salmquet, whose head- quarters are at Eimini, to
send you four field-pieces, of which I make you
a present in the name of the French Eepublic.
He will also place at your disposition a thou-
sand measures of corn, which will stock your
Eepublic until the harvest time. I pray you to
believe, citizens, that in all circumstances I
shall use ail my endeavours to prove to the
inhabitants of San Marino the esteem and
consideration with which I sign myself —
Buonaparte.'
In reply to this gracious epistle, Onofri said
that they would gladly receive the cannons and
corn, but only on payment for the same. 1 The
Sammarinesi begged for some extension of
commercial interests ; and on this point alone
1 Botta, Istoria d 'Italia.
184 A FEEAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
did they solicit the assistance of the invincible
general. It is characteristic of Napoleon and
his promises, that, as a sequel to this episode,
it must be added, that the cannons and corn
never found their way to Mount Titanus, and
no further mention at the time was made of
our little Eepublic, a circumstance which it by
no means regretted.
It was well for the inhabitants of Mount
Titanus that at this time they had so prudent
and trustworthy a citizen and adviser as
Antonio Onofri, a descendant of the citizen
who spoke up so boldly before Alberoni.
Onofri was endowed with all the requisites of
a great statesman, though his sphere was small.
During all the troublous years at the com-
mencement of this century Onofri steered his
little bark through the various tempests with
admirable tact and precision. Whether at
Borne, Paris, or Vienna he made himself re-
spected, and by his presence protected his little
country from being engulfed in any of those
sweeping treaties which followed the fall of
Napoleon's fortunes. In 1802 we find him
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 185
conducting an embassy to Milan, and forming
for San Marino a highly advantageous com-
mercial treaty with the Cisalpine Eepublic,
whilst later on in the same year, Napoleon as
first Consul President of the Italian Republic
orders this little embassy to form part of
the Corps Diplomatique ; on December 5 the
body of simple mountaineers were presented at
the Tuileries with the ministers of all foreign
Powers ; on the 12th they were honoured
with a formal audience at St. Cloud ; and were
received by Napoleon with every mark of
pleasure and kindness.
When Napoleon was formally crowned King
of Italy at Milan, the inhabitants of San Marino
felt alarmed, lest the mantle of clemency which
was displayed by the general and consul should
not continue to adorn the sovereign. But
Onofri was again received with cordiality, and
the old promises of protection were again re-
newed. Not only was Napoleon friendly
towards San Marino, but the same spirit seemed
to actuate those under him. When in 1808,
Eugene, as Viceroy of Italy, found himself near
186 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
the heights of Mount Titanus, he wrote to the
Captains with his own pen in answer to their
embassy of respect. And Joachim Murat, too,
from his throne at Naples, treated with every
mark of kindness the embassy sent by San
Marino to congratulate him on his accession.
After the Congress of Vienna had settled
Europe to a certain degree, and the various
countries began to rearrange themselves after
th eir vast upheaval, Pius VII., the old Cardinal
Chiaramonti,who had watched over San Marino's
interests when threatened by the freemasons,
entered into the old amicable relati ons of pro-
tector~and guardian oTlyur" littl e State, as the
Popes had bee n of yore. Thus, a fte r this
ge neral pacification, in taking a glance at_ the_
position of Italy, we find San Marino the only
Ee public now m existence. V enice had gone,
an d Genoa was now in the possession of the
H ouse of S avoy, whilst throughou^jhejen^th
a nd breadth _o^ the land the re e xisted only
two native sovereigns, namely the Pope and
the King of Sardinia. ' Young Italy,' as repre-
sented by Giuseppe Mazzini and his Eepublican
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 187
outburst, and constitutional Italy as represented
by Charles Albert, were as yet only looming in
the distance.
A few years of unbroken peace, if not of
contentment, served to soothe men's heated
brains, and but few foreign complications dis-
turbed San Marino's serenity until 1824, when
Leo XII. was seated on the chair of St. Peter.
Leo XII. was a pompous, disagreeable man ; a
Pope who wished to see the stately days of the
Middle Ages restored to the Papacy. He hated
the advance of science and art, he hated all
movers in the way of freedom, and as for
Eepiiblicanism, it was in his eyes a most heinous
sin. By the assistance of the Jesuits, and his
Legate, Eivarola, Leo managed to keep up a
regular system of espionage, which put a check
on the Carbonari for a time, but fanned the
secret flames which were to have their out-
burst in the days of his successor, Pius IX.
A means of re-embroiling Europe in war
was constantly looked for by the plenipoten-
tiaries at the Vatican, and our small Eepublic
inadvertently was near providing them with
188 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
their object. A small faction on Mount Titanus
was anxious for annexation to the Papal States,
but by far the most numerous party, headed
by Onofri, preferred the ancient regime, and on
the occasion of Leo XII. 's accession sent a
congratulatory embassy, whilst the other fac-
tion filled the waste-paper baskets of the
Vatican with earnest entreaties for annexation.
The Holy Father flatly refused to receive the
deputation which was sent, alleging as his ex-
cuse that he would have received an embassy
composed entirely of the subjects of San Marino,
but as the message had been entrusted to some
residents in Rome, he felt obliged to refuse to
receive a deputation of his own subjects. 1
Others maintain that the Pontiff was so bothered
by the constant letters he had received that he
refused to admit the deputation in a fit of
anger. Be this as it may, it w T as soon noised
abroad ; Russia, Prussia, and England were in-
formed that the Holy See was anxious to break
existing treaties. Men vaguely reported that
the Cardinal della Sommaglia, Leo's adviser,
1 Artaud de Montor, Life of Leo XLI.
THE REPUBLIC OP SAN MARINO. 189
and a godson of Alberoni, was anxious to per-
form what his godfather had been unable to
effect. But taking into consideration that Car-
dinal della Sommaglia was eighty years of age,
and that Alberoni had merely chanced to hold
him at the font, little ambition of this kind can
have existed in the Cardinal's head.
Again, in this difficulty Antonio Onofri
stepped forward. Being a citizen of San Marino
the Pope was willing to receive him as a deputy ;
and the Russian Minister, M. Le Chevalier
Italinski, the French Charge- d'Affaires, and
Prince Doria, at once set to work to patch up
the mischief created. For so tender were the
threads which held together the peace of
Europe at this time, that even the occupation
of so insignificant a spot as San Marino would
have broken them.
The grateful little Republic presented these
three pacificators with the ' patriciate, ' l and the
French King authorised his Charge d'Affaires to
accept it, and at the same time to tender his
sincere feelings of respect to a Republic which
1 Vide chapter xiv.
190 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
had ' survived its more powerful sisters, by its
prudeuce and disinterestedness, since the year
520.' x
It is a good instance of Onofri's tact and
good judgment, that, when it was in his power
to expose the names of his fellow-countrymen
who had wished for annexation to Eome, he
concealed them, thereby avoiding further dis-
turbances. He burnt all the papers which
implicated them, and was content solely to
keep his eye upon them until his death, which
occurred shortly afterwards. He died deeply
lamented by his countrymen, who erected a
fine marble monument to his memory in their
parish church, and thereon inscribed him as
' father of his country.' With him, too, died
his honoured name, and one of the most noble
and well-beloved families of San Marino became
thereby extinct.
1 Artaud de Montor.
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 101
CHAPTER XI.
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
If Italy, instead of being- a Pantheon of memories and great
works, were a little less rich in art, but more robust, and if she
had strong and industrious citizens, she certainly would cease
to be the slave of the foreigne*, stronger and more industrious
than herself. — Garibaldi.
The story of San Marino for the last fifty years
is one of extraordinary peace and content-
ment ; whilst the rest of Italy was convulsed by
her struggle for liberty, San Marino looked on
complacently, occasionally catching some breeze
from the surrounding tempest ; but, by adhering
to a policy of strict neutrality, and never mixing
in the affairs of others, our Republic succeeded
in maintaining its independence.
On one occasion, when there was some talk
of joining San Marino to another State, the
chivalrous but unfortunate Charles X. of France
192 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
remarked to M. de Vi telle, ' all States ought to
help each other mutually, the strong ought to
support the weak, and if such an event should
happen, I should declare myself the defender of
San Marino, and should plant the French stan-
dard on its towers, and it would be the worse
for whoever might approach it.' x
Meanwhile the power of autocracy was
brought to a crisis in Italy by the intense
bigotry of Pope Gregory XVI. ; he opposed by
all the means in his power the advance of
science and art, and looked upon railways and
telegraphs as machinations of the devil ; he
was entirely under the control of his Jesuitical
advisers, and being without men or money to
carry out his plans, was obliged to throw him-
self wholly into the hands of Austria.
The idea of freeing Italy from the foreign
yoke gave birth to the genius of Mazzini and
his followers, who, carried away by enthusiasm,
soon shot beyond the wishes of Charles Albert
and the moderate party, and consequently this
burst of liberal feeling was doomed to an early
1 de Barjrhou-Fortrion.
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO, 193
death, and Mazzini found himself banished from
his country. However, with the example of
Europe before her, and the encouragement of a
liberal Pope in Pius IX., Italy could not help
being led on to throw off the yoke of her many
tyrants, and in 1848 there was a general eager-
ness displayed throughout the land to drive the
foreigner from the country. Pius himself blessed
the banners of revolt, and sent the Papal forces
to join the popular cause. Daniele Manin led
on the Venetians to deeds of valour, whilst
Garibaldi with his irregular bands kept up a
species of guerilla warfare in the north. But
the Austrian power was still too strong, and the
defeat of Custoza, followed by the defection of
the Pope from the side of freedom, entirely
ruined the hopes of the moderate party. Never-
theless the Eepublicans still took heart. Pius IX.
was obliged to flee to Gaeta from Eome on the
box of a carriage, dressed as a common priest,
and the Eomans sent for Garibaldi to undertake
the defence of their city and their infant Ee-
public. For four weeks the Eoman Eepublicans
and Garibaldi's volunteers held out against the
194 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
French attack ; but at length, after a desperate
attempt, on the night of June 30, 1849, the
Eternal City was compelled to seek a truce,
and the French entered on July 2. Meanwhile
Garibaldi and Mazzini made their escape, and
the former, with his motley crew of followers,
hurried northwards towards Venice to the
assistance of Manin, who still kept up the spirit
of revolt in the lagimes.
At the head of this band of bravos, Garibaldi
hoped, by opening a passage towards Tuscany,
to revive the dying flame of liberty still existing
in the heart of the Apennines. After unheard
of perils, he reached Macerata, and from thence
passed on to St. Angelo in Vado, where, under
the very eyes of Mount Titanus, he suffered his
final defeat at the hands of the Austrians.
With such a harbour of refuge at hand,
Garibaldi lost no time in despatching his
quarter-master before him to San Marino to
announce his arrival, and to request a safe
passage and victuals for his troops. The
Captains and Council, after much deliberation,
felt obliged to refuse, though they would
THE REPUBLIC OP SAN MARINO. 195
willingly have done all in their power for this
kindred spark of liberty, so nearly extinguished.
However, they felt that with the Austrians in
their rear the troops of Garibaldi would have
brought ruin on their little State, and hence
they were obliged to send a reluctant refusal,
at the same time promising to place food for
them outside the Eepublican precincts.
Garibaldi, however, defeated as he was on
all sides, had no other course to pursue, and
hardly had they worded their response before
the trembling citizens found the General and his
followers with them in the Borgo. A curious
spectacle, indeed, did they present, but pic-
turesque amid their squalor and dejection, with
their red shirts all in rags, 1,500 infantry and
300 cavalry in all. Dejected and terrified by
their late misfortunes, no military discipline
now reigned in this motley group of old men and
boys ; some sank to the ground with exhaustion,
whilst others stood by smiling with unnatural
composure. There were many women, also,
amongst them, who had clung to their hus-
bands, sons, and brothers, through all their
196 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
scenes of misery, death, and danger. Their
beauty was faded through excess of hunger and
exposure ; but from their weary eyes streamed
the hazy brightness of inspiration. Such were
the women who swelled the ranks of the
Parisian commune, — a morbid careworn crew,
who filled with pity the hearts of our Eepub-
licans. The advent of this band was a great
episode in the uneventful lives of the Samma-
rinesi, and one on which they still love to dwell.
Garibaldi himself, and one or two of his
followers, went straight up to the Citta, and
to the government house, Avhere he offered to
deliver up his arms, and implored victuals and
a lodging for his band. ' All hail to the fugi-
tives ! ' said the Captain Belzoppi, ' in such a
position we will receive you,' and he forthwith
gave orders that food should be distributed
amongst the men in the Borgo, and that Gari-
baldi himself with his wife, who accompanied
him, should be lodged with all hospitality in
the Franciscan convent near the gate, after
having extorted from the General a promise
that if the Germans did not attack him during
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 197
this respite he would not attack them. After
partaking of the hospitality offered him, Gari-
baldi then went down to the Borgo to address
his men, exhorting them to forbear from all
acts of violence, as they were on friendly ground,
and at' the same time posted up the following
order on the peristyle of the parish church :
' Soldiers, — We have arrived in a land of
refuge ; we must maintain an irreproachable
conduct towards our generous hosts, since it will
gain for us the respect merited by our misfor-
tunes. From the present moment I release all
my companions in arms from every engagement,
leaving them free to re-enter private life. But
I would remind them that it is better to die
than to live as slaves to a foreigner.
' Garibaldi.'
Meanwhile, the Austrians from the side of
Eimini threatened San Marino, as conniving
at Garibaldi's escape. So with great haste the
Republic despatched the Secretary of State to
intercede for a capitulation in favour of Gari-
baldi, and for their own safety. In his hurried
198 A FKEAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
departure this official had neglected to adorn
himself in a manner befitting his office, and
was arrested as a spy by an Austrian soldier ;
however, on being taken before the Archduke
Ernest, who was in command of the army, and
on his credentials being examined, the unfor-
tunate Secretary of State was released from his
quandary, and treated with all due respect.
On the subject of Garibaldi's band, however,
the Archduke was obdurate ; he promised to
spare in every way the Republic, and apologised
for inadvertently having crossed the frontier,
but at the same time he felt obliged to demand
the surrender of Garibaldi and his followers.
After some length of time, and more than
one message passing between the Sammarinesi
and the Austrians, who refused to enter into
direct negotiations with Garibaldi, the Arch-
duke Ernest agreed to give conditions of the
severest nature, obliging Garibaldi at once to
depart to America. The General, however,
whilst his soldiers slept, and whilst the Eepub-
licans were unconsciously dreaming of the diffi-
culties of to-morrow, determined to effect his
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 199
escape, with his wife, and 150 of his most
trusted followers. He thus quietly stole away
from our Republic's territories by way of the
marshes of the Comachio towards Venice,
leaving the following laconic note on his bed-
room table : ' The conditions imposed on me
by the Austrians are unacceptable, and there-
fore we cease to encumber your territory. —
Garibaldi.'
At the break of day the remnant of Gari-
baldi's band awoke to find themselves deserted,
and great was their dismay, and loud were
their threats against those who had deceived
them. Eefreshed by their night's rest, they felt
prepared to receive the Austrian attack, and con-
sulted as to whether it would not be advisable
to occupy Mount Titanus; at all events, each man
affirmed that he preferred death to surrender.
The Sammarinesi, in this dire emergency, at once
closed their gates, and sent messages for assist-
ance to the Austrians, whilst the Garibaldians
cooled their angered brains by counsel,- and
Colonel Jacchi, their leader, prevailed upon
them not to requite their benefactors with
L>00
A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
bloodshed. Thus, somewhat appeased, and be-
coming convinced that life was more sweet than
a foolhardy death, the band at length deter-
mined to accept the Eepublic's protection, and
to deliver up their arms in peace to the Sam-
THE PORTA FRANCISCANA.
marinesi, which ceremony took place at the
Porta Franciscana with all the customary for-
malities, and the open-hearted Republicans pre-
sented each man with two paoli, 1 and a passport
for llimmi ; and thus, after exchanges of compli-
1 Faolo = 5tf.
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARIXO. L>01
ments between the two classes of Eepublicans,
San Marino was released from its unpleasant
visitors.
The Anstrians, however, were much exas-
perated when they found that Garibaldi had
finally escaped out of their clutches ; and by way
of revenge they seized the Garibaldians on their
way to Rimini, and their paoli and their pass-
ports to boot ; and it required much pacifica-
tion and persuasion on the part of the Captain
whom the Sammarinesi hurriedly despatched,
before the Archduke would acquit our Eepub-
licans of having connived at the escape of
Austria's arch-enemy. At length, however, the
Austrian general was appeased, and nothing
but polite messages passed between the Aus-
trians and the Sammarinesi ; the Archduke
asking leave to remove his soldiers into more
comfortable quarters, and the Sammarinesi in-
viting him to bring them all to the Borgo,
whilst the Archduke himself was to be lodged
o
in the house of the Conte Borghese in the Citta.
Nothing loath to accept this hospitality, the
Austrian general took this opportunity to rest
202 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
his army for a few days, and made himself
most agreeable to the inhabitants, receiving
deputations, and enquiring into the constitutions
of the Republic, gracefully vouchsafing to ad-
mire everything he saw therein. Much, how-
ever, as they may personally have liked their
guest, the Sammarinesi thought fit to offer up a
Te Deum in their church on his departure, as a
thanksgiving for their escape from so many
dangers. For some time, however, the rear
of Garibaldi's followers, who had managed to
escape from the Austrians, lurked about in the
neighbouring mountains. This was the cause
of some petty acts of brigandage, and a good
deal of annoyance to the Republic, but it was
eventually put down, and all went on again
most smoothly.
But this little episode in their history cost
the Republic no small sum of money ; their com-
missariat was drained again and again, and the
inhabitants not unfrequently felt the pangs of
hunger, having so many mouths to fill, as, of
course, there was no one to repay them for their
outlay ; but they were contented in their humble
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 203
minds to have been instrumental in saving the
life of one so dear to Italian freedom as Gari-
baldi.
Another breeze with the Austrian invaders
ruffled the serenity of San Marino, when, after
the entire rout of the Republican party in Rome,
forty of them came to Mount Titanus, as a har-
bour of refuge. However, the Prolegate Bedini,
of Bologua, sent at once to demand the resti-
tution of these men in the name of Austria ; and
poor San Marino, recognising its own helpless-
ness, but feeling grieved at the act of injustice
thus imposed upon them, returned an answer to
the Prolegate that he might come and fetch the
men himself, for it would never arrest them
on its own account ; and as for two of the
forty, who happened to be Sammarinesi, they
flatly refused to deliver them up.
Pope Pius IX., with all his liberal protesta-
tions at the outset of his pontificate, soon
checked his liberal career by throwing himselt
into the arms of Austria, and finally receiving
aid from Napoleon III. He likewise, after
these backslidings, evinced a great enmity
204 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
towards our Eepublic, eagerly looking for an
opportunity to appropriate it as his own.
Pius IX. had, of a truth, sorely suffered from
republicanism, and we can hardly wonder that
he abhorred the name, and considered San
Marino an evil precedent in the very heart
of his dominions ; consequently Pius was
nothing loath to seize an opportunity afforded
him by the assassination of one Gian Battista
Bonelli, an honourable and respected Samma-
rinese. The reason for this crime, and the per-
petrator thereof, continued to be unknown to
the world, and hence gave rise to every species
of groundless suspicion ; thereby Pius obtained
an excellent excuse for appropriating our Ee-
public on the score of misgovernment. To carry
out his plans, the Pope asked the assistance of
Tuscany ; but ugain a Buonaparte saved San
Marino. Napoleon III flatly refused to allow
this occupation, and ordered his ambassador at
Rome, M. de Eeyneval, to send someone to
inquire closely into the state of affairs on Mount
Titanus. This office was entrusted to the care
of M. Baudet, and on his examination and his
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 205
report to Napoleon proving satisfactory, the
Emperor encouraged our Eepublic by address-
ing their embassy to Paris as follows : ' Keep
your innocent customs, my citizens, and con-
tinue in the path which you have trodden for
so many centuries, and always count on my
protection.' To the gracious assistance of the
Buonaparte dynasty San Marino owed a second
time its safety and the continuation of its
ancient freedom.
About this time a learned man, the Count
Borghese, took up his residence in almost
the highest house on Mount Titanus, where
he could pursue his studies unmolested. He
lived, as his biographer stages, like a bee, who
descended into the busy scenes of life to
collect materials for his honey — a honey, alas !
of no sweet flavour for the world at large, but
presenting the very aroma of Parnassus to the
antiquary. Borghese made a vast collection of
Greek and Eoman coins, which now forms the
nucleus of the great numismatic collection in
the museum at Naples ; and he wrote in his
seclusion numerous pamphlets and classifications
200 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
of the same, piles of which lie in hopeless dis-
order in the Sammarinese Museum. Besides
this the Count collected epitaphs, and was well
skilled in deciphering inscriptions upon stones.
He died in 1860, in his house on Mount Titanus,
and his memory is held in great esteem, as that
of a good citizen should be amongst the Ee-
publicans, though his literary attainments are
not treated with the respect they merited, being
at the same time beyond the comprehension
and beneath the notice of our hardy moun-
taineers.
On the accession of the House of Savoy to
the entire rule of Italy, Luigi Cibrario, a minor
satellite, whose special brilliancy was somewhat
eclipsed and held in check by Cavour, Mas-
simo d'Azeglio, and others, took San Marino
under his particular protection, being as he
was a citizen of the Eepublic, and at the
same time occupying many important posts in
the Government of Victor Emmanuel. Thus
Cibrario obtained for San Marino terms which
the Eepublicans would have found it hard to
procure without his assistance. In chapter xiii.
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 207
I shall state at greater length the advantages
which thereby accrued to our little State.
The Eepublicans were by no means unthankful
to Cibrario for his trouble, and heaped upon
him all the small honours within their reach.
Besides being made a member of their Eques-
trian order, 1 Cibrario was, as a mark of special
favour, allowed to quarter the three towers of
the Eepublic in his own coat of arms ; and a
slab commemorating his achievements on San
Marino's behalf is inserted in the walls of the
Council Chamber.
On the occasion of the opening of the rail-
way from Bologna to Ancona, our Eepublic's
repose was doubtless a little disturbed by thus
beino- brought within twelve miles of an inven-
tion which could carry them to the uttermost
parts of the earth. The track of steam, as the
train is hurried on its way along the coast of
the Adriatic, is descried for miles from San
Marino's eagle nest, forming a curious con-
trast for the imagination to dwell upon, whilst
carried back by all around to ages long gone
1 Vide chapter xiv.
208 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
by. A deputation was sent to congratulate
Victor Emmanuel at the opening ceremony,
and at the errand dinner given afterwards the
King caused the humble Saminarinesi to be
seated on his right.
Although from external appearances the
inhabitants of Mount Titanus do not seem to
have taken much advantage of the facilities
for locomotion placed within their reach, and
though but few modern inventions, and but a
limited number of the world's busy sight-
seers have reached its summit, nevertheless the
iron way has been the means of allowing the
Saminarinesi to take a share in the great fever
for Exhibitions of this nineteenth century. San
Marino was to be found in the great ' Street
of Nations,' under the same roof with her sister
of Andorra and the principality of Monaco, at
Paris in 1S78. Though her productions were
humble, some of them at least had the merit
of originality. All the books and pamphlets
that ever had been written on the Eepublic
were collected together, and so placed that
those ' who ran might read.' Specimens of
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARINO. 2W
agriculture likewise adorned this room, whilst
on the walls appeared their stamps and coins.
But, above all, a coat of arms, wrought by a
native Avorkman out of native stone, was an
object of their special pride.
But though they could do but little to vie
with the wealth of Europe in her gaudy show,
yet the very existence of the name of San
Marino amongst the rest formed unconsciously
one of the greatest curiosities in this hive of
nations, and by its appearance there it proved
to the world at large that it was no fossil, like
most of its less fortunate sisters, but a still
living community, in which the elements of
an honest and thriving population are still
extant.
210 A FREAK OF FREEDOM; OR,
CHAPTEE XII.
HISTORICAL COMPARISONS AND AN UNHISTORICAL
TRAGEDY.
Nothing indeed can be a greater instance of the natural love
that mankind has for liberty, and of their aversion to arbitrary
government, than such a savage mountain covered with people,
and the Campagna of Rome almost destitute of inhabitants. —
Addison, Travels in Italy.
Having thus traversed the centuries during
which this petty State has existed, let us con-
sider the extent of this liberty, and how far
San Marino owed subservience to its neigh-
bouring protectors.
In looking around to find a parallel amongst
other independent States, we find it hard to hit
on any that will compare with San Marino.
The Eepublics of Switzerland have had to fight
for the freedom which they possess, and at one
time overthrew Charles of Burgundy, the most
powerful prince of the period. The old Greek
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 211
Eepublics, though perhaps no larger in extent
than Mount Titanus, owned no immediate pro-
tectors, but were pitted one against another in
continual strife.
Again, various authors draw a comparison
between the position of San Marino and that of
the commercial towns of Germany, inasmuch
as they governed themselves by their own laws,
yet at the same time owed fealty to the Empire.
But here we have no Swabian or Hanseatic
League for mutual protection, and no rich mer-
chants and bankers who could make the Holy
Roman Empire tremble.
At the Paris Exhibition, as we have seen,
San Marino was represented side by side with
its sister Republic of Andorra, which clings to
the name of liberty in the valley of Balira, in
Catalonia, at the foot of the Pyrenees. This
State consists of six parishes, and of about
] 2,000 inhabitants, united under one Govern-
ment. It is somewhat junior in origin to
that of San Marino, boasting of having re-
ceived its charter of liberty from Charlemagne,
and to have had it renewed again by Louis le
p ->
212 A FREAK OF FREEDOM; OR,
Debonnaire. But here we find the two ' Viguiers*
or Presidents of the Eepublic, one elected by
France, and the other by the Spanish Bishop of
Urgell, under whose protection the Republic is
placed. But the French nominee is held of
small account, and the virtual authority is exe-
cuted by the deputy of Spain. This Eepublic
has no code of laws, but the judges follow that
used in Catalonia, modified by local customs.
Here Napoleon, as at San Marino, condescended
to parade his clemency. ' I recall, 1 said he, k a
miniature Eepublic, lost in a corner of the
Pyrenees, which I respected as a political
curiosity.'
In short San Marino is a solecism in the
polity of Europe. The offspring of centuries
long gone by, it has grown old in its infancy,
and from its anomalous position has called forth
much criticism from amongst its adversaries
and supporters, who treating it in the light of
the more modern system of statecraft have
missed the very point of its existence.
Its career from first to last is marked out
into three distinct phases. Firstly, when, in the
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARIXO, 21$
troubled centuries before the contest of Guelph
unci Gliibelline, the Italians gathered round
any sacred spot, and formed themselves into
communities asserting some mystic and saintly
origin, as a means to escape the encroaching
tyranny of the nobles ; during all which time
San Marino had no neighbour strong enough,
and there was no one perhaps who cared, to
appropriate this barren spot. During this
period the social and political condition of
Italy contributed much to the formation of
free communities. The Saracenic and other
invaders encouraged the maintenance of local
militia, and the habit of living in walled cities,
and, receiving no assistance or interference from
the imperial and nominal feudal head, they were
left free to choose what government seemed
best for them. In the twelfth century we find
in Italy about two hundred free communitie s
o r republics, most of which gradually became
a bsorbed, or subservient to the nobles, who ,
on one pretext or another, managed to ge t
th e inhabitants into their power. But from
tlieirjeculiar position these communities never
■2U A FREAK OF FREEDOM; OR,
enj ove d entire political iiidependeQ ££^-thevjg_-_
ecived their franchise, or were under the pro-
tection of neighbouring dukes andcoun ts, mor e
or less dominant as circumstances occurred,
whilst these dukes and count s were again the
f eudatories of some distant power, and ranged
themselves- on the side of Emperor or Pope a s
they found most suitable f or their interests.
Hence t hese early Italian Eepublics were rathe r
w hat in modern times would be termed free
municipalities, which had received ex ceptionally
liber al charters from their lords paramount .
This is the exact ch ar acter and nature of t he
government of San Marino, which has been
maintained throu gh so many centurie s.
This brings us to the second phase in th e
historycT~a uT^epubhc. V V henT Frederic Bar-
ba rossa introduc e d t.hp foreign el em en t in to
Italy^San Marino found itself under the imme-
diate protection of o ne of the most warlik e
an_d__no\verful Ghibelline princes, the Counts o f
M oiilcfcltro, and later the Dukes of __Urbi n o .
During this phase in its history its freedom
was due most especially to the fact that it was
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 215
a bulwark between the hostile houses of Mon-
tefeltro and Malatesta, and by complete sub-
serviency to the more powerful of these princes
it retained its freedom and position until
the Montefeltrian Dukes were firmly seated
in Eomagna. It formed one of the main
characteristics of this house that they never
encroached on the liberty of their subjects.
No more liberal or high-minded race of princes
ever governed in Italy, and the existence of
San Marino in their very midst is an ample
testimony to the policy they pursued.
On the extinction of the line of the Dukes
of Urbino, 1 their territories were fused in those
of the Holy See, and with this San Marino
entered on the third phase of its career. By
this time it had procured for itself a position
which the Popes of those days were unable
to break. If Caasar Borgia had established his
rule in Eomagna before his father's death, or
if Leo X. had succeeded in adding to his
family's possessions the Duchy of Urbino, the
days of our Kepublic would have been num-
1 A.D ; 1631.
216 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
bered with those of its protectors, for, with
the rest of Eomagna, Cossar Borgia possessed
Mount Titanus ; but fortunately for its exist-
ence the Dukes of Urbino survived the Papal
struggle for temporal power, and Italy was a
prey to the foreigner, who made it the battle-
field of nations, and who would readily have
seized on any attempt of the Popes to extend
their power as an opportunity to deprive them
of what they already possessed.
Thus we see that San Marino owes its exist-
ence not so much to its own integrity, as to the
happy run of circumstances, which so enabled
it to carry on the method of government which
suited its inhabitants — a race of peasants,
who liked to till the ground and grow their
grapes without the interference of a foreign
despot.
The liberty of San Marino has been most
extolled by Melchiore Delfico, who indeed so
eulogises this little State as to leave an impres*
sion that here has existed for centuries a society
of gods in disguise ; never for a day have they
swerved from their upright course, no vicious
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARINO. 217
symptoms have here ever arisen, and perfection
on earth is the echo of his work ; whereas on
the other hand, Carlo Fea, who writes to assert
the dominion of the Holy See over this little
people, vituperates this author and treats the
Eepublic as a thing of nought, and its inhabi-
tants as dangerous upstarts, who dare to unfurl
the flag of liberty under the very eyes of
the Papal See. He alleges case after case
of acts of subserviency which no free-minded
people would ever have performed, but bases
all his arguments for Papal supremacy on the
dangerous quagmires of the Pepinian and other
donations ; whilst he sums up by saying, ' The
Eepublic owes its preservation more than any-
thing else to the attachment of its inhabitants
to their Saint, to the locality, to the form of
government, which binds and obliges everyone,
and to the pleasing and exalted idea of ancient
liberty which under any other government
would long ago have perished.' 1 He extols
the leniency of the Popes in allowing them to
1 Carlo Fea, 'Diritto sovrano clella santa sede sul Comaccbio
e la Repubblica di San Marino.'
218 A FREAK OF FREEDOM; OR,
continue under their own government, forget-
ting to allege at the same time any reasons
which obliged the Popes to do so. Clement
XII., who regranted them their liberty after
Alberoni's occupation, was led to do so, know-
ing that by this he could avoid an appeal to
any other power, for Austria would only have
been too glad of a foothold in the States of the
Church, and Alberoni was always on the look-
out for means to embroil Europe in another
war. tO" CO** f &>)'&-
In short, the existence of San Marino forms
a good point from which to survey the history
of Italy in general. Weak of itself and unable
to raise a finger against a foreign foe, it has
gone along with the times, an idiosyncrasy
which could not have existed in any other
country but in Italy, a nd which modern const i-
tutional Italy has left untouc hed, inasmuch a s
our Eepublic has arguments now to adduce
in_ _behalf of its liberty wh ^h w milr1 mnkp \t
hard for a Government, based on modern con -
stitutional principles, toj onch it,_
The whole spirit of San Marino's history
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARINO. 219
and character is embodied in a simple tale of
some centuries ago, without date, but told as a
story of the past, by- an historian 1 who wrote a
short but faithful account of San Marino, about
a hundred years ago. Envious of the tran-
quillity which reigned on Mount Titanus, cer-
tain people repaired thither, anxious to throw
in their lot with the peaceful inhabitants of
our rock. Their petition was presented at a
Council, and some of the Councillors were
inclined towards receiving it, when one high in
authority amongst them, being alarmed at the
specious offers of the petitioners to bring cer-
tain benefices to the State, and at the astute
arguments adduced, ordered the envoy to
appear in Council, and spoke as follows : ' Of
a truth your propositions sound well; but know
that we are a somewhat matter-of-fact people,
and all we require is to know how to govern
our small community, whilst ye are people of
the Court, and know all the cunning of the
outer world ; we wish for nothing new, that ye
need share your brains with us.' The Coun-
1 Linda.
220 A FREAK OF FREEDOM; OR,
cillors echoed the sentiments of their leader,
and the envoy was not allowed to respond,
whilst those who had wished to accept the offer
never suffered their names to transpire for very
shame. Thus it was, and thus it still is with
the people of San Marino ; without mingling
with the outer world they have retained their
simplicity and customs, and at the same time
they have unconsciously retained a living
museum, so to speak, of mediaeval Italian life.
A Russian Prince, Beloselky by name, a
fervent friend of letters, and an intimate of
Voltaire's and Eousseau's, once wrote a curious
poem to the Sammarinesi, a strange mixture of
prose and burlesque verses. After congratu-
lating them on the happy termination of the
Alberoni affair, he gives them some humorous
advice, prefaced by the following questionable
compliment :
Vous n'avez pas l'e'clat que donne la victoire,
Mais votre etat fleurit depuis treize cents ans.
Nevertheless the Sammarinesi are very
proud of it, and consider that their long period
of freedom compensates in every way for the
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 221
lack of martial honours. A curious story of
the sixteenth century, however, shows us that
the Sammarinesi are not altogether without
their laurels ; for a war indeed they had, and
that against a party of gipsies. As the story
savours of a romance, and lacks the authenticity
of history, I here give it as it stands, and it
may be taken for what it is worth.
In or about the year 1556, a young book-
seller, Francesco Ballero by name, established
himself in a shop in the market-place of San
Marino. As he fulfilled all his duties to Church
and State in a thoroughly orthodox manner
no one enquired of him from whence he came,
complaining only of his great reticence, and
that he never was to be found elsewhere than
in his shop or at church, and if perchance he
took a walk when the church bells were not
ringing he chose the most lonely paths and
slopes of Mount Titanus. Three years passed
thus, when one Sabbath evening he came in
great haste to the dwelling of the parish priest,
to tell him that the town was in the greatest
danger. The aged divine shook his hoary
222 A FREAK OF FREEDOM; OR,
locks, and said, ' You dream, my son, bow
could our peaceful little town be in danger ? '
' From some gipsies, father,' said Francesco,
' who threaten to bring a sickness on the town.'
' You must be very clever,' rejoined the
priest, ' for no one can understand their lan-
guage but one of themselves.'
'But suppose I am one of them myself,'
mysteriously added the bookseller, and went
on to relate how that when he was a student
at Bologna he had been seized with a desire to
visit the whole of Italy, and in his travels found
himself one day at Naples. Here he chanced to
see a gipsy girl dancing on the Chiaja, dressed
more gaily than her comrades, and of a beauty
which captivated the hearts of all the young
Neapolitans, but she steadfastly refused all the
money, jewels, and flattery heaped on her by
her admirers. Nevertheless she condescended
to accept a bouquet or two silently offered her
by the amorous Ballero, and the dark brown
eyes of the lovely Drakh or Vine, as she was
called, burnt deep into his heart. On learning
that the troop had moved away one day he
THE EEPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 223
determined to follow them and declare his love.
At the wayside inn close to where the gipsies
were encamped he was warned against their
robberies and acts of barbarity ; but his love
conquered all his fears, and nothing daunted he
plunged into the forest on his horse. After
riding for two hours he came across the first
members of the band, looking very different
from what they did in their gay clothes at
Naples. They were dressed in the vilest rags,
and looked regular ruffians. In no way dis-
mayed, he rode on to the centre of their en-
campment, where he was soon surrounded and
dragged off his horse. They stripped him to
his shirt, and were preparing to hang him to a
tree, when a cry for help announced his quan-
dary to Drakh, who at once ordered him to be
let loose and his property to be restored to him.
Her unruly subjects, for Drakh was no other
than their Queen, at first refused to allow their
prey to escape ; but she disarmed the ringleader,
and, to the surprise of all, announced Francesco
as her husband. When released from the tree,
Drakh and Francesco drank water together out
224 A FREAK OF FREEDOM; OR,
of the same vessel, and ate together a piece of
bread, and thus they became man and wife
after the customs of this nomad race.
The aged priest now felt assured that Bal-
lero was mad, and asked him how he managed
to escape from the horde.
' By flight, reverend father,' he replied,
1 when I heard they were about to set out for
Africa.'
'You did well, young man,' rejoined the
priest. ' Here in San Marino you are quite safe
from the "Vine" and her rabble. Go, say some
half-dozen paternosters, to ease your mind.'
' You are mistaken, father,' replied Fran-
cesco. ' I beseech you to hearken to my words ;
for I saw a portion of Drakh's band, and they
are prepared to poison the wells of the town.'
The priest, however, convinced that the
bookseller was mad, paid no heed to this warn-
ing, and neglected to inform the Council of
what he had heard.
Francesco Ballero forthwith left the town to
discover what he could, and try to save the in-
habitants from their predicted doom ; but it was
THE REITBLIC OF SAN MAE1XO. 225
too late. Two days after his interview with the
priest a terrible sickness broke out, and great
was the priest's remorse at having neglected the
warning. In a few days half the inhabitants fell
a sacrifice to this terrible scourge, whilst many
more were dangerously ill.
When Ballero returned to the town the
greatest attention was paid to all he had to
say. He warned them that the gipsies now
considered the town sufficiently exhausted, and
purposed foiling upon it and plundering it the
next day.
In great dismay the Councillors assembled,
and ordered the criers to go round and summon
all those capable of bearing arms, and only
about two hundred could answer the call.
However, so enraged were they at the treachery
which threatened them, that they solemnly
swore to avenge themselves on the brown tribe,
and not to spare even the women or children —
not one of the murderers of their families should
be allowed to escape.
It was resolved to leave all the gates wide
open, and to wait in ambush the approach of
Q
226 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
the invaders. Half of the next day was spent
in terrible suspense by the inhabitants of our
rock, when suddenly in rushed a motley group
of men, women, and children, all armed, and
their eyes gleaming with fury and cruelty. The
Sammarinesi rushed out upon them with shouts
of defiance, hewing and piercing right and left,
sparing, as they had sworn, neither age nor sex,
the more so as the small brown children used
their daggers with a dexterity beyond their
age. After a sharp struggle, victory declared
itself on the side of the Republicans, and the
piazza and surrounding streets were strewn with
the dead bodies of the slain, whilst only a small
handful of gipsies escaped to tell their tale.
None of the brave burghers were killed, and
Francesco Ballero alone was missing, nor was he
again seen or heard of. It was said that he had
been seen fighting against the gipsies, and that
he had been surrounded by them, a tall, dark
woman standing by giving them orders. When
all further search proved in vain, and no hope
of seeing him again was entertained, his shop
was opened, and his papers were examined.
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 227
Therein a will was found, taking an eternal
farewell of San Marino, and leaving to the town
all his worldly goods, with which, so runs the
story, an orphanage was to be founded. But
this story of Francesco Ballero and his orphan-
age is looked upon by the Sanunarinesi as far
more mythical than the legends of their Saint.
Of a truth, at Serravalle, an orphanage does
exist ; but though the endowment thereof is
shrouded in obscurity, they do not recognise
this foreigner in any way as their benefactor.
Q2
228 A FKEAK OP FREEDOM ; OR,
CHAPTER XIII.
CONSTITUTIONAL SKETCHES.
Les coutumes d'un peuple esclave sont une partie de sa
servitude, et celles d'un peuple libre sont une partie de sa
liberte. — Montesquieu, Esprit des Lois.
The early government of the few inhabitants
which were gathered round the sanctuary of
Marinus corresponds in most respects to that
in vogue amongst all primitive societies. The
family was here considered the basis of all
political representation, as amongst our own
Anglo-Saxon ancestors. Each family deputed
its head to vote and superintend its interests in
the ' Arringo^ which was the ' patron absolute.'
By this matters political and judicial were de-
cided, the wicked were punished, and from this
the good received their reward.
With the advance of time, however, the in-
convenience of such large and unwieldy assem-
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 229
blies was felt here as elsewhere. Towards the
close of the fourteenth century the authority of
the Arringo was placed in the hands of a
Council of sixty, which is still the governing
power of the State. Nevertheless, the right of
the Arringo to assemble was reserved, and it
always meets twice a year, a few days after the
installation of the Captains. But this assembly
exists now merely in name, for the thirty or
forty heads of families who collect on these
occasions to witness the presentation of two or
three petitions to the newly-appointed Cap-
tains has but little resemblance to that which
at one time entirely controlled the affairs of
State. No penalty is now imposed on absen-
tees, the fine of one penny having fallen into
disuse ; and it is now only used as a medium
for presenting requests which the Council may
grant or refuse as they like. On one occasion
on which I happened to be present, a peti-
tion for the establishment of telegraphic com-
munication was duly presented and read, and
two others for the extension of certain road
works, the entire ceremony lasting only about
230 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
twenty minutes, and the petitions being put
aside for discussion by the Council at some
future period. Hence it is obvious that to the
Council of sixty we must look as the only
executive power.
Great is the diversity of opinion expressed
by various authors as to the nature of the
government of San Marino. We find Cima-
relli calling it a ' monarchical society ,' Matteo
Valli and Delfico style it a ' democratic govern-
ment,' and Auger St. Hippolyte looks upon it as
an ' isonomia,' or equality of rights ; whilst x
Addison holds it to be an ' oligarchy.' But let us
look more closely into the constitution of this
Council of sixty before we make our decision.
When the Arringo relinquished its rights
into the hands of sixty of its members, it aban-
doned its executive power entirely; for the
members of this Council when once elected
were to remain so for life, and on the death of
one of the members the Council itself elects
another in his place. Thus Addison was cor-
rect in calling it an oligarchy.
1 Addison's Travels in Italy.
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 231
But to go a step farther, whether by cus-
tom, statute, or recognised consent, this body-
is divided into three estates, twenty members
being noble, twenty citizens or inhabitants of
the Citta and Borgo, and twenty country people
or landowners ; whereas Addison tells us that
half are noble and half citizens, which could
not be the case, as the number of noble fami-
lies in San Marino never reached thirty. Thus
it will appear that the government of San
Marino is a well-balanced oligarchy ; the nobles
themselves owing their election to the Council,
and, being in so small a minority, have no ex-
tensive power.
When a vacancy occurs, each member,
beginning with the Captains, proposes a can-
didate, and each candidate proposed is bal lotted
for, and each of the three estates has full right
to vote at the election of a member of another.
Members of this Council must be over
twenty-five years of age ; a son cannot be a
member during the lifetime of his father, nor
more than one of any number of brothers who
live together.
232 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
The dangerous elements of an oligarchy
have never had full play in San Marino, for the
sixty only represent 1,243 hearths, so there
can be but little room for any unconstitutional
proceedings. However, we have seen in these
pages that irregularities began to creep in
towards the middle of the sixteenth century.
At that time the number rose to eighty, and
was afterwards again reduced to sixty ; and
in the next century, so great was the con-
stitutional languor, it was reduced to forty-five,
and in 1739, when Alberoni came, there were
only twenty-three. Hence, we can see no
perfect constitution here — no Utopia, as many
French Eepublican writers would make us
believe.
For the assembly of the Council an order
of one of the Captains is required, and the bell
of the castle must be rung, and the town-crier
proclaims it in all the streets. Their proceed-
ings are conducted in strict privacy, none but
Councillors being admitted to the room, nor
may they afterwards divulge the subjects of
their deliberations. Besides this, the office is
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 233
tantamount to hereditary ; for if there be no
positive objection to a son, he is invariably
elected a Councillor in his deceased fathers
stead.
Out of this Council of sixty, a body of
twelve is chosen, and forms an ' Economic
Council,' as the statute describes it, to act
as an intermediate body between the Great
Council and the Captains ; and their office is
to direct matters financial, public instruction,
agriculture, &c, to which the Great Council
has given its consent. Two-thirds of this
Council of twelve are renewed every year,
sixteen candidates being proposed, one-half
citizens and one-half countrymen, from which
the ballot is to select the requisite eight.
The Council of sixty is comprehensively
termed ' The Prince of San Marino,' and to
exercise their power they elect a Duumvirate
twice every year, and these two magistrates
are called the Captains ; their power is simply
derivative, the public money is not even
entrusted to their care, but is left in the hands
of the Camerlengo, or Treasurer. One Captain
234 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
is always noble, and the other either a citi-
zen or a countryman, and their power is in-
divisible, except that through etiquette the
nobleman keeps the keys and seals and has
a certain priority in matters of form. Hence,
selected as they are from both classes of society,
one is always a check on the actions of the
other.
To be eligible for the Captaincy a man
must be over twenty-five years of age, and a
native of San Marino ; therefore Sammarinesi
living abroad generally contrive to return home,
that their children may first see the light of day
on this mountain. Again, he must be free from
any disgrace or judicial infamy, and, lastly, he
must not have been elected Captain within the
last three years.
The oath which they take on assuming
office binds them to keep the statutes which
provide for the summoning of Council every
week, and for the entire subserviency of the
Captains to that Council. It runs as follows :—
4 We N. and i/., Captain and Defender of the
Castle of San Marino, swear to rule and govern
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARIXO. 235
for the next six months to come from this day
the said Castle of San Marino and its villages,
with the men and other things pertaining to
the said Castle and its Court, with all our
power ; and we will keep, and cause to be kept,
the Statutes and Ordinances written in this
Book to the honour and majesty of the said
Castle of San Marino, and we will protect its
goods from all treachery, and we will observe
all these things with good faith and without
fraud. So help us, God.'
In ancient times the Priest or Abbot of
San Marino used to carry out the dictates of
the Arringo, probably the successors of Saint
Marinus himself, as heads of the ecclesiastical
establishment continued to act as Eegents. But
in 1244 we find. two Consuls treating with the
Feltrian Bishop, Ugolino. This name continued
in vogue for some time in San Marino, in
common with other Italian States at that period,
and it was not till early in the fourteenth
century that we find the statutes speaking of
the Captain and the Defender. But the second
name was soon abandond in ordinary parlance ;
236 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
and with some few exceptions, the Duumvirate
have been styled Captains ever since.
With the growing intensity in epithets
common to the rest of Italy, the modest Signori
Capitani of the fourteenth century are now
addressed as ' L'eccellcntissima Eegenza.'
During the course of their history we find
several anomalies in their election, especially
during times of the great social decay, when
the legal age of two citizens had to be set aside
in 1639 in default of other citizens to fill the
post. But taken as a whole, the durability of
the system, and the tenacity with which the
Sammarinesi have stuck to their constitution,
can find no parallel in history. No Captain
has ever tried to assume more than his just
power, or in any way to tyrannise, or to be-
tray his country into the hands of those who
would amply have rewarded him, nor is one
single Captain's name mentioned with con-
tumely.
The mode in which the Captains are chosen
is decidedly intricate. Twice a year, on March
15 and September 15, those who are to assume
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARINO. 2;i7
the post of Eegents for the coming term are
chosen as follows : Twelve electors are taken
by lot from the members of the Council, and
each proposes a candidate for the Eegency from
among his fellow Councillors. Upon this the
names of six of these, chosen by the majority of
the whole Council, are written upon three lots,
it having been duly arranged that one noble
and one of the other two estates be placed
together. These preliminaries having been
completed, the whole Council go in great pomp,
accompanied by music and soldiers, to the
parish church towards the evening of the day
on which the election takes place, their atten-
dants carrying torches to add to the solemnity
of the scene.
Here the parish priest is in attendance, and
having read aloud the names on the three lots,
encloses them in three ballot balls, and puts
them into a silver urn, shakes it well, and then,
in the presence of the assembled multitude, a
little boy of about eight years old extracts one
of the lots which contains the names of the
Captains elect.
238 A FREAK OF FREEDOM; OR,
Then, amidst the peals of the organ, the
priest reads aloud the result, and the populace
respond with loud applause, recognising in this
ceremony the voice of the oracle which pro-
claims to them their new ' Preposti' for the
coming six months.
Elected in this way a fortnight before, the
new Captains await the first of the coming
month for their entrance into office. This
festival is attended with all the pomp and
panoply that San Marino can muster ; visitors
come from afar, few indeed in number, but
enough for the accommodation afforded them.
The brilliant flag of the Eepublic, all blue
and white silk with the arms of the State
emblazoned thereon, is unfurled from the Sala
dell' Udienza, and the Pianello, with its en-
chanting view over the Umbrian mountains,
assumes quite a holiday appearance.
An army of twenty- eight strong, in the gay
blue uniform of the Eepublic, with a band of
considerable power for noise if not for music,
is in readiness to escort the newly-appointed
functionaries to attend Mass in the parish
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 239
church of San Marino, previous to their taking
the oath and their final installation as Eegents.
Early in the morning they are saluted in their
own houses by their fellow-citizens, and after-
wards confer with the outgoing Captains in the
Sala del Commune.
The dress of the Captains is striking and
handsome ; a black silk juste-au-corps, and
puffed trunk hose, black silk stockings, a large
circular cloak of black velvet lined with blue
silk, fastened with gold cords and aiguillettes
hanging down one side, and a white cravat
with long ends fringed with lace. Six of these
suits are kept in store to be ready for any
emergency in the size of Captains. The badge
of office, which is eventually to be transferred,
being still in possession of the outgoing Captains,
consists of the grand cordon of the Equestrian
Order of San Marino. 1 A broad blue and white
ribbon passed through the jewel, which hangs
low upon the breast, is plaited so as to form a
full ruff or collar behind. Their caps of black
velvet, bound with ermine, are never donned.
1 Vide chapter xiv.
240 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
but carried by grand lackeys, called Donzelli,
six in number, one of whom is always in
attendance on the Captains. They look like
gaudy London footmen, in blue livery with
silver facings, and on their backs three upright
points of silver lace, to represent the three
peaks of the Eepublic.
On an occasion when I had the good fortune
to witness this ceremony, the gay and imposing
procession wound its way upwards to the parish
church, the musicians and soldiers forming a
double line down the nave for the officials to
pass through, the former enlivening the scene
with gay music, more calculated to inspire
the minds of the audience with feelings of
hilarity than to endue them with the solemnity
of the proceedings. Such, indeed, was the case,
as most of the spectators took the opportunity
of chatting with their friends who had come
from a distance.
Installed on a tribune of crimson brocade
backed by the Eepublican arms, to the left of
the altar, the two Captains sat side by side,
and together looked every inch a king, whilst
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARINO. 241
their modest successors took a humble place
lower down the Church, looking slightly awe-
stricken at the glory that was to come upon
them.
When the formalities of the Mass were
concluded, the officials and as many of the
spectators as could be accommodated in the
Sala del Consiglio, well suited to the size of the
Eepublic, repaired thither to hear the discourse
and witness the taking of the oath.
To a stranger anxious to acquire information
about the Eepublic the "discorso" was of high
interest, but to those accustomed to hear the
same eulogy and injunctions twice every year
it must have been extremely wearisome.
The audience were taken back to far distant
ages when St. Marinus founded this ever free
family upon this impregnable rock ; they were
informed of the kindness of the neighbouring
Dukes of Urbino and treachery of the Malatesti
of Rimini, and no kindly words were spoken
about Alberoni and his occupation ; Victor
Emmanuel, Napoleon I., and Garibaldi, w T ere
all politely alluded to ; and, in conclusion, dire
R
242 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
punishments were promised to the wicked who
might scheme against San Marino's perpetual
liberty ; and injunctions were given to the
incoming Captains to maintain the laws, and to
look after the instruction of youth, as a primary
element in the well-being of the State.
At the conclusion of this harangue a Don-
zello read the customary oath to the incoming
Captains, who swore by placing their hands on
the book containing the same. The outgoing
Captains then transferred the badge of office
from their own necks to those of the new ones,
and resigned their places on the throne to them.
The new but timorous-looking Regents received
the respectful bows of the ex-monarchs, who
then vanished by a side-door. After having
received the keys of the various departments
of state, the seals, &c, which are put into a
handsome casket, the ceremony was concluded.
The Captains always leave home ' incognit%
and one of them may stay away a week or
more if he can so arrange matters with the
Council ; and a citizen of San Marino, who
may chance to meet a Captain abroad always
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 243
treats him as ' incognito} whereas at home he
would address him as ' eccellenza '
When attending Council, and when busy in
the affairs of State, the Captains are always
attended by a Donzello, but on these occasions
they dispense with the magnificent apparel of
State, and wear a suit of evening clothes ;
these also are kept in stock, and are not always
the best of fits.
The offices held by the Sammarinesi are but
slightly remunerative, for the Captain receives
only a trifling monthly salary, whereas an am-
bassador of the Eepublic, besides his travelling
expenses and remuneration for loss of time, is
only by the Statute entitled to tenpence a day.
The Captains have, however, the monopoly of
salt during their term of office.
They are obliged, at least once during their
six months of office, to visit the three Castles of
Serravalle, Mongiardino, and Faetano, and to
see that all is proceeding satisfactorily within
the town. Without the leave of the Council
they may not spend more than thirty francs on
244 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
any public building, nor may they place their
name or arms on anything built during their
regency.
On entering into office the Captains select a
Secretary of State and a Secretary of Finance,
who also receive a slight salary, and remain in
office for the same time. The financial affairs
of San Marino would form a model for any
Chancellor of any Exchequer ; they not only
possess no public debt, but have a considerable
balance at their bankers in Florence. In fact,
enterprise is not one of the gifts of their many
rulers ; their expenses are next to nothing, and
their taxes the same. So they manage to live
contented, but always stationary, with a popu-
lation not perceptibly increasing. Nevertheless,
many energetic undertakings have been carried
out in the way of roads and improving the
streets of the capital ; also education has been
made compulsory, and hence an attendant ex-
pense on the Government.
The following is an average specimen of a
Sammarinese budget (1865-1872) : —
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO.
245
Receipts,
From dues .
From taxes
Divers products .
Lire.
52,000
53,900
6,600
Lire
112,500
Expenses.
Lire.
To Regency-
8,200
Justice ....
8,200
Army ....
8,500
Administration and finance .
11,500
Health ....
7,700
Agriculture
2,000
Public works
38,000
Industry, commerce and post
2,800
Public instruction
17,100
Charity ....
5,000
£4,500
Lire 109,000 = £4,384
In accordance with a convention with United
Italy 1 San Marino now coins its own money,
which is good in both countries ; but its coins
exist more in name than in anything else, for
the pieces of ' one soldo,' dating from 1864, and
of ' two soldi,' dating from 1875, are but rarely
found in circulation, and only two specimens
of ' five lire ' pieces were struck, and these now
adorn the numismatic collection in the museum.
1 Vide chapter si.
246 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
Stamps, however, with the Eepublican arms
upon them, are always used for letters leaving
the State ; and of these the Sammarinesi are
not a little proud, for a few sheets of each kind
were framed, and sent to the Paris Exhibition
of 1878, and are also to be seen on the walls
of the picture-gallery] in the museum.
As the above-mentioned convention with
Italy shows the exact position in which San
Marino stands with the ruling power of the
country in which it is engulfed, and the exact
extent of the liberty recognised, it will be well
to give a slight epitome of the same. 1
' The most serene Eepublic of San Marino,
and Victor Emmanuel, King of Italy, recog-
nising the reciprocal convenience of introducing
some modifications with regard to a former
treaty (namely, that of 1862), through the aid
of their respective ambassadors, draw up the
following articles,' dated March 27, 1872. All
judicial sentences, public Acts, condemnations,
&c, passed in either of the two States, shall
1 ' Convenzione di buon vicinato e di ainieizia conchiusa il
27 Marzo, 1872, a Firenze.'
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 247
hold good in the other, according to the cus-
toms of procedure in the respective jurisdic-
tions, and citizens of either may demand the
legal assistance of both countries, provided that
they have conformed to the laws in use in the
place where the assistance is demanded.
Cases in which extradition can be demanded
are drawn up in full length, and include every
misdemeanour of which mankind is capable ;
and the extradition is to be put into execution
immediately on the production of the writ,
with which is abolished the freedom for three
days formerly granted to all malefactors who
entered the confines of the Republic ; but a
ten years' sojourn in either State will prevent
the extradition being demanded.
If a soldier of either State deserts to the
other, he is to be sent back with his horse, and
all his accoutrements.
Passports between the two countries are
considered unnecessary, and money coined in
either is valid in both. Instead of a custom-
house between the two countries, the kingdom
of Italy gives up a portion of the revenue
248 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
arising from the custom duties, proportioned to
the number of San Marino's inhabitants, kindly
calculated at 9,000.
Patents of all kinds granted by the king-
dom of Italy are to be respected by San Marino,
and the Republic covenants not to set up a
printing-press in its territories, to avoid any
difficulty about copyrights.
Tobacco is not to be grown within the
Republic's territories, and the kingdom of Italy
hands over annually at cost price 78,000 kilo-
grams of white salt from Cervia, and 70,000 kilo-
grams of foreign tobacco ; and in case of need
a further supply will also be given at cost
price.
After discussing these and a few minor
points, the most serene Republic being con-
fidently assured that its privileges and liberties
will be ever respected by the King, pledges
itself never to accept the protection of any
other power. On the execution of this treaty,
Victor Emmanuel presented the Republic with
a bronze medallion of himself, which is kept in
the palace of the regency.
THE REPUBLIC OP SAN MARINO. 219
An Italian Consul resides in the old palazzo
where Count Borghese lived, whilst the Eepublic
has a deputy at Eome, to watch over its in-
terests at head-quarters.
Several minor officials superintend minor
offices in the State, and are likewise elected by
the Council of Sixty. The two doctors form
no unimportant part in the domestic economy
of San Marino. They are under Government
pay, and are obliged to kill or cure free of
charge. Likewise the schoolmaster is a great per-
son, whose duty it is to teach all the youthful
Eepublicans, and now that education is com-
pulsory his office is no sinecure. With a whole-
some modesty, the Sammarinesi have ordained
that the two doctors and the schoolmaster must
always be foreigners, recognising the evil effects
of continually choosing such important person-
ages out of so restricted a population, whose
abilities are not amongst their most prominent
points.
Conservators are appointed for preserving
all public edifices, for overlooking the clean-
liness of the streets, who, by the way, effect
250 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
their duties far from efficiently ; and where drain-
age could be perfect and at the least expense,
we are surprised to find an entire absence of
it. Again, the custody of the clock in the
Pianello is another important office in the gift
of the Council. In the next chapter we will
discuss their judicial arrangements, and some
other points of internal economy.
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARINO. 251
CHAPTEE XIV.
INTERNAL ECONOMY.
A cosi riposato, a cosi bello
Viver di cittadiui, a cosi fida
Cittadinanza, a cosi dolce ostello. — Dante.
No part of San Marino's internal economy
brings us more forcibly face to face with Italy
of the past than the existence of a foreign
Podesta, to superintend their legal arrange-
ments.
In medissval Florence, for example, the
foreign element which was introduced into the
State not only superintended the course of jus-
tice, but also commanded one of the most noble
battalions of the army ; whilst at Milan, where
the family feuds of the Torriani and Visconti
constantly plunged the State into civil war, and
in all other Eepublics, so great was the party
spirit, that one side could not trust a legal
252 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
representative of the other to administer justice
impartially. In this small mountain Repub-
lic — the debris of Italian liberty, as it has been
termed — we still find this custom in vogue ;
and centuries after the Bargello of Florence has
ceased to open its gates to a foreign judge,
we here recognise customs as immutable as the
rock on which they have been engendered.
The early statutory arrangements of San
Marino are closely interwoven with those of
the Duchy of Urbino, though so far back as
1253 we find mention made of statutes, and
again, in 1278, to check the inhabitants from
commercial intercourse with the neighbouring
town of Corena, and from time to time we are
told that the Sammarinesi availed themselves of
a time of peace to revise the same. Yet in all
matters of weighty importance the inhabitants
of our rock seem to have been in the habit of
paying a small annual sum to have the benefit
of the advice of the neighbouring Podesta of
Montefeltro. Whereas, in 1367, when Carlo
Peruzzi made strenuous endeavours to get all
Eomagna into his grasp, the Sammarinesi, to
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 253
prevent further disturbances in their rights,
sought the aid of a judge from Eimini, Fran-
ceschino by name, well skilled in law, to decide
the weighty point of their liberty ; and about
this time, such was the spirit for legal exactness
kindled in their breasts, that by order of the
Council their Captains and five reformers set to
work to compile a new code, which, under the
title of ' The Statutes of the Commune of the
Castle of San Marino,' appears as the first au-
thentic copy of these laws, which, we are told,
the saintly Marinus first compiled, and handed
down to his successors.
Various alterations and amendments during
the course of the next two centuries were added
to this work, to suit the emergencies of the
times; but in 1592, owing to the 'laceration
and consumption of the book,' the result of the
turbulence of the times, the Grand Council
found it necessary to appoint eight revisers,
who, with the Captains, sat day by day poring
over their arduous task of compiling a new
code. So long, however, were these function-
aries in producing the necessary work that, the
2f>4 A FKEAK OF FEEEDOM ; OR,
course of justice was sorely impeded, and re-
course had to be made to a private copy of the
laws, compiled by and in the hands of the
Bonelli family, which continued to be used till
the year 1600, when, by dint of strenuous exer-
tions, a new code was compiled and printed,
and forms the basis of that which is now in use ;
but at the time it gave so little satisfaction to
the community at large, owing to the barbarity
of some of its penalties, that in 1602 there was
much talk of revising it, and in 1621 the
Council went so far as to appoint revisers ; but
this was never done, and the code has simply
gone through a refining process, as circum-
stances occurred.
During all this period their kind friends, the
Dukes of Urbino, continued to impress on the
inhabitants of Mount Titanus the necessity of
appointing some foreign commissary to superin-
tend their courts of law ; but the Captains con-
tinued to plead poverty, and preferred to pay
the customary trifling sum for the use of anyone
the Duke might send them, from time to time,
to act as Podesta, and decide in all cases of im-
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 2o5
portance, to having a regular paid lawyer of
their own.
However, this personage sent by the Duke
came so seldom, and it was so precarious a reed
on which to trust when the Duke himself was .
in difficulties, that the force of circumstances
obliged the appointment of a commissary by the
State to direct the course of law, who, in the
year 1600, became a definite and essential ele-
ment in the constitution.
He was delegated by the Eegency, and took
oaths to be subservient to the same, and to decide
impartially in all cases, civil and criminal ; but
his decisions were not to be final, for the Council
reserved to itself the power of a veto, and
appointed two judges from amongst their own
body to whom appeals might be made, whilst
the decision of the Council of Twelve alone was
held to be final. At the present time this
foreign commissary is obliged to be a doctor of
law, who has graduated at a legal university,
and whose reputation for legal learning is irre-
proachable.
In 1834 a new edition of the laws was
256 A FREAK OF FREEDOM; OR,
published, short indeed, and crude, but leaving
no loophole for the inhabitants to cast off their
long- established reputation for honesty, probity,
and morality. A preface thereto speaks in flowing
terms of the antiquity of the Eepublic and its
laws, how these date from the thirteenth cen-
tury, and have only been amended from time to
time to suit emergencies, and how, thanks to
these, San Marino is the sole survivor of Italian
freedom. With regard to the transmission of
property, tutelage of minors, dower, &c, the
laws are entirely based on the old Eoman codes,
and offer no novelty to the student of Justinian ;
but, in turning to the minor points of detail,
one is confronted with many idiosyncrasies.
Amongst other State officials we find regula-
tions for electing the schoolmasters and doc-
tors, who must be foreigners, in the following
manner : the Council have the option of fixing
on any number of electors they may think
necessary, who are then chosen by lot, and it is
their duty then to fix on anyone fitted to occupy
either of these posts, the Council always retain-
ing its power of vetoing the appointment if
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 257
against their wishes. Dire are the punishments
denounced by the Statutes on anyone who
should attempt any conspiracy, or suggest to
give the government over into the hands of a
neighbouring State. Any Captains who may
refuse to nil the office when elected are likewise
to be treated as traitors, unless they can allege
any valid excuse. All games of chance are
strictly forbidden, and certain regulations against
swearing appear to us a little strong if carried
out to the letter. Every man who takes in vain
any sacred name, San Marino and the Blessed
Virgin being placed in the same category, and
the other saints in a descending scale, according
to their respective merits, is to be heavily fined ;
but whosoever shall strike the images of the
same, whether with wood, iron, stone, and the
like, is to have his hand cut off; but a heavy
fine for the interior saints, even in this case, is
deemed sufficient.
So jealous are the Sammarinesi of their
character, so susceptible are they of any adverse
criticism by their neighbours, that at the end of
the last century, when a Riminese of the name
s
258 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
of Bava, on one occasion spoke of the Eepnblic
as a refuge for thieves and robbers, bankrupt
traders, and vagabonds, and when this speech
was reported to the Council of Sixty, they forth-
with passed a law, so runs the story, that this
man and all his relations, and all who bore his
name, should be excluded for ever from the
Eepublican territories. Thirty years afterwards
a man and woman, on a stormy night, applied
for shelter in Serravalle. The man unfortunately
addressed the woman as ' Signora Bava,' where-
upon the peasant started up and exclaimed,
' Away from my house, eveiy one with the
name of Bava/ and the unfortunate female was
turned out into the cold and rain.
Xo one is prouder of an acquired reputation
for justice than a Sammarinese. This little
Eepublic stands exceedingly high in its own
estimation, nor is this pride calculated to be
diminished by the many flattering eulogies and
terms of respect by which it has been addressed
by various potentates. Louis Philippe, of France,
on the occasion of his being enrolled amongst
their patricians, wrote them a truly fulsome
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MAEINO. 259
letter, addressed to his ' Chers et bons amis,'
whilst the Emperor Ferdinand of Austria styled
them his ' Beloved and respectable friends.' On
the other hand, what must have been the feel-
ings of a haughty Doge of the proud Eepublic
of Venice on receiving a letter from the poor
inhabitants of this isolated rock, addressed ' To
our very Dear Sister, the Most Serene Eepublic
of Venice.'
No Sammarinese is ignorant of a story which
is told, contrasting their uprightness in a most
favourable light with that of Venice, and which
runs as follows : A Venetian merchant, who
was once owed some sum of money by a Samma-
rinese, as the best means of recovering his debt,
repaired in person to the Eepublic, and went
straight to one of the Captains of the time,
whom he found treading grapes in his vineyard.
Much staggered at this, after the grandeur and
pomp of his own dignitaries, he half repented
him of his journey, and the trouble he had
taken ; nevertheless, he went to the Captain, and
told his story. This functionary thereupon left
his employment, and sent for the delinquent
260 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
Avith all haste, who acknowledged the debt with-
out hesitation. Orders were immediately given
for the selling of his house and worldly goods,
whereupon the money was soon forthcoming, as
the debtor was by no means so poor as would
have appeared from his shortcomings, and the
Venetian went home rejoicing, and profound in
his respect for our Eepublic. Some time after-
wards the same creditor having occasion to sue
a debtor in the court of Venice, and having
experienced the law's delays, and its glorious
uncertainty, gave vent to this expression, which
at San Marino has almost passed into a proverb,
' A simple grape-treader of San Marino is worth
far more than ten big-wigs of Venice.'
Of late years, after the abolition of gaming-
tables in other countries, some few were to be
found in the Borgo, but they were always stre-
nuously opposed by the Government, and when
some foreign speculators went so far as to offer
to build grand hotels, open a railway and
^ambling-houses at San Marino, the Council
refused, worthy successors of those who set on
one side the offer made by Napoleon ; though
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 261
some of the Councillors, whether through the
advantages they expected the Eepublic would
reap from becoming a second Monte Carlo, or
through bribes of the speculators, which we are
told were offered but never taken, voted in its
favour, but were silenced by an overwhelming
majority. Now, as we have seen, gambling of
all kinds is forbidden by the laws, and the Sam-
marinesi rest contented with their modest games
of ecarte with no stakes thereon.
The military force of San Marino is some-
what under 2,000 strong ; half the able-bodied
men of every family must be enrolled in the
army between the ages of sixteen and fifty-five,
except they happen to be government officers,
doctors, priests, and students. The first corps
is called the ' Guardia della ReggenzaJ detach-
ments of which serve as an escort of honour to
the Eegents, and are stationed at the ' Palazzo
Communale ' during audiences, and the sittings
of the Council. Their uniform is very gaudy,
blue with yellow facings, which in some way
makes up for their want of soldier-like appear-
ance in other respects. The second corps is
262 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
called the ' Guardia del/a Eocca,' whose uniform
is blue with red facings. Two companies,
called respectively i Granatieri i and 'Cacciatori,'
are dispersed through the city, Borgo, and
Castles, and are ready, on the slightest notice,
to turn their hands to anything ; they assist at
leasts, act as policemen on emergencies, and
follow their various avocations when not re-
quired. Their uniform was once blue with white
facings, but these are unfortunately now worn
out, and so peacefully inclined is the Govern-
ment that they have not thought it necessary to
go to the expense of replacing them with new
ones.
The residue of the armed force is scattered
throughout the country, and in no way differ
from the rest of the community, except that
it is obligatory for them to possess a gun and
ammunition, and a cockade, against emergencies,
which accounts for the fact that so many indulge
themselves in field sports ; and on a Sunday's
festa most of the male population carry a gun
with them, which proves at least their love of
the chase, though, judging from the spare
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 203
amount of game to be seen about, their chances
of a good day's sport are but small; indeed they
only profess to go in search of chaffinches, and
other small fry, to form a delicacy for their
tables, and when the bird betrays itself by a
song, they lie in wait under a tree until an
opportunity is afforded for shooting at it as it is
seated on a bough. In short, the Sammarinesi
are not a bellicose race, and have enjoyed an
immunity from war longer than most countries,
and since they fought under their own banner
for the Dukes of Urbino, their military prowess
has never had an opportunity of showing itself,
unless we accept as true the story of the
gipsies.
The agrarian system in vogue at San Marino
is the mezzeria, or metuary system, by which half
the yearly profits go to the tenant, and half to the
landlord, in lieu of rent, the evil effects of which
are felt here as elsewhere in Italy. But the taxes
are extremely light, being only one- twentieth
part of those paid by the Italian landowners
across the border, the moral of their rulers
being that propounded by one of their own
264
A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
economists, that ' a great part of liberty consists
in paying little.'
The three castles of Serravalle, Faetano, and
Moncriardino have their separate syndics, the
CASTLE OF SEUUAVALLE.
first having six Councillors, the second four, and
the third two Vice-Captains, who render an
account of their proceedings to the Captains and
treasurer at head-quarters. Officials to superin-
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 263
tend the affairs of the smaller hamlets are taken
by lot out of the Council of Sixty, and their
names are proclaimed aloud at the ' Arringo '
after the installation of the Captains in office.
After the capital, the town of Serravalle
offers the only point of interest to the anti-
quarian. Here a handsome old portal, and the
remnants of walls, point out an old stronghold
of the Malatesti before they were subjugated
by Pius II. and his alliance, and their territories
meted out to their neighbours. This castle was
shattered by an earthquake some few years ago,
but still forms a conspicuous object for the sur-
rounding country.
In the church of Serravalle, on either side
of the altar, the visitor is greeted by statues of
two old friends ; Gaudentius, Bishop of Kimini,
who made Marinus his deacon, stands in a niche
on the left, with a cynical expression of coun-
tenance, and devoid of grace. He is sorely neg-
lected, poor man, for whilst his deacon, Marinus,
stands proudly on the other side, adorned with
flowers, and lighted by two handsome candles,
his reverence is illumined by one solitary taper.
20G A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
This statue of St. Marinus is strikingly different
from all other Saints ; his expression is full
of conviviality, and his face is adorned with
moustache and imperial, whilst in his hand he
carries the heavy burden of three towers. It
was removed from the parish church in the
' Citta ' when the new one was put up, and is
much more characteristic and expressive than
the handsome work of art which has superseded
it. In the corner of the church is seen a se-
cluded hole in the wall ; here a seat is set apart
for the Captains, connected with the church by
a small window ; here they perforin their de-
votions, when chance or residence may oblige
them to pray in the provinces, and here their
dazzling magnificence will not distract the atten-
tion of the admiring peasantry.
The noble families in this Republic are in a
position peculiar to themselves ; they never had
any feudal character, but rose spontaneously
from merit and inherent respect. These families,
from amongst whom one of the Duumvirs must
be selected, were only first distinguished as such
towards the beginning of the seventeenth cen-
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARLVO. 207
tiiry, when the Council recognised the necessity
of always having one Captain who was educated,
and could read and write, difficulties having
frequently arisen from two highly esteemed but
ignorant peasants being placed in so responsible
a position. Hence certain families were set
apart, from whom one of the Captains must be
selected to obviate this difficulty, and a sort of
nominal aristocracy arose ; and on the extinction
of any of these families another is always elected
in its place, but in all other respects the equality
of rights enjoyed by all Sammarinesi is thus in
no way interfered with.
At the time when the French Eevolution
shook Europe to its basis, the spirit of democracy
was felt even in this remote corner of the world ;
and the Council of Sixty so far gave way to the
spirit of the times as to abolish the patriciate.
' And thus,' says Marino Fattori, ' this order,
established about the middle of the seventeenth
century to provide for the wants of the period,
bad in nought but name, fell without defending
itself in any way, and gave up a right, which
certainly had never been useful to itself, but
268 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
from which, at different times, the country had
derived much satisfaction, and simply because
the nobility of San Marino had always retained
its innocency ; and in 1806, when Europe re-
turned to its constitutional monarchies, it was
re-established, with the consent and will of those
very men who three years before had voluntarily
abolished it.'
San Marino, in common with other inde-
pendent States, can confer titles on meritorious
individuals, but these are always given to fo-
reigners who have in some way contributed to
the wellbeing of the State. Thus the Count
d'Avigdor, San Marino's representative at the
Courts of Paris and London, was made Duke
of Acquaviva, which title is recognised in the
' Paris Diplomatic Annual ' of 1865. His widow
was, as has been mentioned, a great benefactress
to the State. Several others have received similar
recognition of services done for the Republic,
though they never confer any title, or the order
of knighthood, on any native of San Marino, for
fear of interfering with the recognised principles
of equality.
THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO. 269
The honorary right of citizenship has fre-
quently been conferred on persons who have
resided in the Eepublic, or in any way brought
honour to the State. Melchiore Delfico, the
historian, was made a citizen ; Count Borghese,
the numismatist, who resided here for so
many years ; also Canova, who, in recognition
of this honour, presented the Eepublic with
a bronze bust of Napoleon, a copy of his
own work in marble, which stands in the
Council Chamber, with an inscription to testify
the fact.
If anyone comes to reside at San Marino, it
is necessary for him to have been six years with
his family in the place before he can present a
petition for naturalisation ; then the Council,
having taken into consideration his character
during this time, and his fitness to become a
Sammarinese, may elect him, and his family, to
all the rights of citizenship, and not till then
can he purchase land within the Eepublican
precincts.
In the year 1859 an Equestrian Order was
instituted, with which many illustrious foreigners
270 A FREAK OF FREEDOM ; OR,
are decorated. The purpose was expressed as
follows, at the institution of the Order : ' The
Council Sovereign of the Eepublic of San
Marino, arrived at the fifteenth century from its
foundation, and imbued with the most lively
gratitude towards Divine Providence, towards
BADGE OF EQUESTRIAN ORDER.
S. Marino their founder, and towards all So-
vereigns its perpetual and kindly protectors,
and equally imbued with the necessity of show-
ing their recognition towards those who have so
effectively co-operated to the conservation and
glory of the Eepublic, or to whom gratitude is
THE REPUBLIC OF SAX MARIXO. 271
due from humanity, science, and art, has
decreed ' to institute this Order, &c. ; on the
register of which we find the names of Victor
Emmanuel, the Emperor of Germany, Napoleon
ITI. and his son, Prince Bismarck, and other
notable characters from various countries.
The right of conferring this Order is vested
solely in the hands of the Grand Council. The
Captains for the time being are Grand Masters
of this Order, to which they belong only during
their term of office, and are decorated with its
insignia at the time of their installation.
J.ON'DOX : PltlXTED BY
SPOTTISTVODDE AND CO., XEW-STREET SQUABB
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