leted until 1446. It is in the form of a Latin
cross, and is 355 feet long. The roof is covered with coloured tiles,
and the rich groined vaulting is borne by eighteen massive pillars,
adorned with more than a hundred statuettes. Since 1852 the building
has been thoroughly restored, but in all essentials it remains as it was
when Haydn sang in it as a choir-boy.

The Choir School of St Stephen's

Many interesting details have been printed regarding the Choir School
of St Stephen's and its routine in Haydn's time. They have been well
summarized by one of his biographers. [See Miss Townsend's Haydn, p. 9.]
The Cantorei was of very ancient foundation. Mention is made of it as
early as 1441, and its constitution may be gathered from directions
given regarding it about the period 1558-1571. It was newly constituted
in 1663, and many alterations were made then and afterwards, but in
Haydn's day it was still practically what it had been for nearly a
century before. The school consisted of a cantor (made Capellmeister
in 1663), a sub-cantor, two ushers and six scholars. They all resided
together, and had meals in common; and although ample allowance
had originally been made for the board, lodging and clothing of the
scholars, the increased cost of living resulted in the boys of Haydn's
time being poorly fed and scantily clad. They were instructed in
"religion and Latin, together with the ordinary subjects of school
education, and in music, the violin, clavier, and singing." The younger
scholars were taken in hand by those more advanced. The routine would
seem to us now to be somewhat severe. There were two full choral
services daily in the cathedral. Special Te Deums were constantly sung,
and the boys had to take part in the numerous solemn processions of
religious brotherhoods through the city, as well as in the services for
royal birthdays and other such occasions. During Holy Week the labours
of the choir were continuous. Children's processions were very frequent,
and Haydn's delight in after years at the performance of the charity
children in St Paul's may have been partly owing to the reminiscences of
early days which it awakened.

A House of Suffering

But these details are aside from our main theme. The chapel-house of St
Stephen's was now the home of our little Joseph. It ought to have been
a happy home of instruction, but it was, alas! a house of suffering.
Reutter did not devote even ordinary care to his pupil, an