2. The almost complete neglect of this study among us has been due, in great measure, to the fact that there have been no books on the subject at all adapted to the ends to be attained. A dry, scrappy, and incomplete narration of facts can end only in bewilderment and in blunting the taste for this species of inquiry. The desirable thing has been a book that is comprehensive without being tedious, whose treatment is articulate and clear, and that is pervaded by a critical insight at once catholic and accurate. Some years ago I read with the keenest admiration, the _Histoire Critique des Doctrines de l’Éducation en France depuis le Seizième Siècle_, by Gabriel Compayré (Paris, 1879); and it seemed to me a model, in matter and method, for a general history of education. Within a recent period Monsieur Compayré has transformed this _Histoire Critique_ into such a general history of education, under the title _Histoire de la Pédagogie_. In this book all the characteristics of the earlier work have been preserved, and it represents to my own mind very nearly the ideal of the treatise that is needed by the teaching profession of this country. The reader will observe the distinction made by Monsieur Compayré between _Pedagogy_ and _Education_. Though our nomenclature does not sanction this distinction, and though I prefer to give to the term _Pedagogy_ a different connotation, I have felt bound on moral grounds to preserve Monsieur Compayré’s use of these terms wherever the context would sanction it. It seems mere squeamishness to object to the use of the word _Pedagogy_ on account of historical associations. The fact that this term is in reputable use in German, French, and Italian educational literature, is a sufficient guaranty that we may use it without danger. With us, the term _Pedagogics_ seems to be employed as a synonym for _Pedagogy_. It would seem to me better to follow continental usage, and restrict the term _Pedagogy_ to the art or practice of education, and _Pedagogics_ to the correlative science. I feel under special obligations to Monsieur Compayré, and to his publisher, Monsieur Paul Delaplane, for their courteous permission to publish this translation. I am also greatly indebted to my friend, Mr. C. E. Lowrey, Ph.D., for material aid in important details of my work. W. H. PAYNE. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, Jan. 4, 1886. The issue of a second edition has permitted a careful revision of the translation and the correction of several verbal errors. In subsequent editions, no effort will be spared by the translator and his publishers to make this volume worthy of the favor with which it has been received by the educational public. W. H. P. AUG. 1, 1886. INTRODUCTION.