INTRODUCTION

François Edouard Joachim CoppÉE was born in Paris in the year 1842. He was the youngest of eight children in a family of limited means.

His father, a government clerk in the war department, with modest salary, could not long hâve withstood the strain to which he was subjected, had he not been blessed with a faithf ul and resourcef ul wife of bright and sunny disposition. François, a délicate child, lived a quiet, uneventful life. His school days were few, for his father was obliged to take him from the Lycée St. Louis, where he had been in attendance as a day pupil, that he might lend assistance in the office and help in the support of the family. Some time afterward the father was suddenly taken away.

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