had passed that way in such state as a poor cardinal could command. Here Fontana had first built him a modest dwelling, and here he began to construct the Villa Montalto, which, as Fontana labored over it, became at length so beautiful that it, together with the chapel he was also building in Santa Maria Maggiore, cost Montalto the allowance given by the Camera Apostolica to poor cardinals, since the Pope judged no man to be poor who could build so magnificently. Gregory XIII’s inference and consequent action may have been natural, but was not on that account just. The enduring antipathy between Ugo Boncompagni and Felix Peretti dated from that Spanish mission on which they had been sent together by Pius V; and when Boncompagni had become Pope and had, therefore, Cardinal Montalto in his power, it befitted him to make a thorough investigation of any matter concerning his old antagonist before taking action. As a matter of fact, the villa, though costing in the end thirty thousand scudi, could not have been so extravagant in the beginning. The characters of Cardinal Montalto and Fontana, as well as their accounts, prove how certainly the owner and architect could get the best possible returns for their money. These two men formed at that time one of the notable friendships of history. Fontana supplied out of his savings the funds for continuing the chapel; and Montalto, as Sixtus V, proved his gratitude and appreciation. Their confidence in each other was as complete as was their recognition of each other’s ability. Sixtus gave Fontana the work of taking down and re-erecting the obelisk of the Vatican--and this, in spite of Fontana’s youth (he was forty-two years old and judged by his contemporaries to be too young for such responsibility) as well as the reputation of Amannati and other competitors. Furthermore, when the obelisk was finally lowered to its present position amid the prayers of the vast concourse of people, Sixtus was not even present. The French ambassador was to have his audience at that hour, and the state of Europe was the Pope’s chief concern. As Sixtus passed along the street to the Vatican, revolving the affairs of Philip II and Elizabeth of England, of Mary Stuart and Henry of Navarre, and the “Unspeakable Turk,” the guns of St. Angelo apprised him that the obelisk was in place. That had been Fontana’s business and he had trusted it to him. Nevertheless, the old pontiff shed tears of satisfaction.