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 The Republic of Sixn Marino 643 territory and a long period of peace ensued. But, though free from external dangers, the Republicans continued to be beset by the in- ternal troubles to which allusion has already been made. The diffi- culty of obtaining a quorum now became so great that in 1652 the number of councillors was reduced from si.xty to forty -five. Even at the present date, as Captain Gozi informed me in 1 899, it is not easy to find suitable persons for all the offices out of a total population of about nine thousand. In the middle of the seventeenth century it was harder still, owing to the lack of education, which was rem- edied in 1691 by the foundation of the Belluzzi College. Two other evils are especially mentioned as causes of San Marino's decay, — the maladministration of justice, owing to the fear of giving offence to other members of so small a community, and the increased num- ber of outlaws who had taken refuge there. The former was re- moved by the common practice of other Italian states, that of sub- stituting for the two captains, in respect to their judicial functions, three foreign judges, elected for the term of three years, a system which still survives. A special law was passed in 1654 to prevent the abuse of the right of asylum, but was of short duration, and in our own days this has been the gravest danger to the independence of San Marino. The once austere republicans, too, became infected with the desire for titles, and in 1646 we find the first mention of a noble caste, which exists at the present time, when there are twenty noble families, and one captain must always be a noble. One note- worthy distinction of that century must not be forgotten, the publi- cation of the first history of San Marino, by Matteo Valli, secretary of the republic' The next noteworthy incident in the history of the state was the visit of Addison in the spring of 1 701, to which Macaulay alludes in his essay on that eminent man. In his Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, Addison has left us some interesting observations on " the smallest independent state in Europe." " It may boast," he wrote, " 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," and he added that " 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." The threat of a foreign occupation in the finst half of the eigh- teenth century once more raised the long downcast spirit of repub- 1 Rdaziom: dell' Origiiu e Governo delta Refubblica di San Marino. Padova, 1633 ; reprinted in 1733.