160 



FELLENBERG. 



His early disappointment in his examination of 

 society, his investigations of tin- state of the common 

 people, his intercourse with public men, and the tre- 

 mendous convulsions he had witnessed, had all con- 

 spired to impress upon la's mind the same conviction 

 that the (inly rr.-uurce for melioniting the state of 

 his own an<l oilier countries, and for preventing a 

 repetition of the horrors which lie had witnessed, was 

 to be found in early education; and he resolved hence- 

 forth to devote himself to this, as the object of his 

 life. He was appointed a member of the council of 

 education of Berne, but was soon convinced that 

 nothing adequate could be accomplished on this sub- 

 ject, through the medium of legislative commissions ; 

 and, having come into possession of an ample for- 

 tune, he resolved to devote tliis to his great object, 

 and to form on his own estate, and on an independ- 

 ent basis, a model institution, in which it should be 

 proved what education could accomplish for the be- 

 nefit of humanity. He married, about this time, a 

 Bernese lady, of the patrician family of Ischarner, 

 who has borne him nine children, six of whom, as well 

 as their mother, are devoted coadjutors in his plan of 

 benevolence. 



In pursuance of his great design, he soon after 

 purchased the estate called Hofwyl, and his life, 

 henceforward, forms an important page in the re- 

 cords of benevolent enterprise. His great object was 

 to elevate all classes of society, by fitting them better 

 for their respective stations, and to render them happy 

 and united, without destroying that order which Pro- 

 vidence had appointed, and which the governments 

 of Europe preserved with so much jealousy. He 

 believed it important to collect in one institution the 

 poor and the rich, each with their appropriate means 

 of improvement, and thus to establish proper and 

 friendly relations between them. He considered it 

 of high importance to make agriculture the basis of 

 such an institution. He regarded it as the employ- 

 ment best of all adapted to invigorate the body ; but 

 he also believed that, by elevating agriculture from 

 a mere handicraft to an art founded upon scientific 

 principles, and leading directly to the operations of 

 the great First Cause, it would become a pursuit 

 peculiarly fitted to elevate and purify the mind, and 

 serve as the basis of improvement to the labouring 

 classes, and to society at large. He selected Hofwyl 

 on account of its situation ; so insulated as to secure 

 it from the influence of bad examples, yet surrounded 

 by villages which would furnish labourers, and only 

 six miles from the city of Berne. It was an estate of 

 about two hundred acres, under poor cultivation, lying 

 on a hill filled with springs, and surrounded on three 

 sides by a valley eighty feet in depth. He commenced 

 with employing a large number of labourers in dig- 

 ging drains in every direction, some even to the depth 

 of thirty feet, which completely freed the arable land 

 from water, and, at the same time, were formed into 

 a streamlet round the hill, which served to irrigate 

 its borders and the level below, and convert them into 

 rich meadows. His next plan was to turn up the 

 whole soil to the depth of two or three feet, and then 

 replace it, putting the stones and gravel at the bot- 

 tom, and reserving the richest portions for the sur- 

 face. Another object of importance was to convert 

 the swampy ground around into meadows, by cover- 

 ing it about a foot in depth with sand and soil from 

 the upland. This was effected in part by means of 

 the stream we have mentioned, which was made to 

 wash down successive banks of earth placed before 

 it, and in part, during the winter, by sleds descend- 

 ing and raising each other alternately, by means of 

 pulleys, as is sometimes done in coal beds. In con- 

 nexion with these operations, he erected extensive 

 additions to the granaries (then more than sufficient 



for the actual produce), to provide f<ir the abundant 

 crops he anticipated. 



All this excited ridicule among his enemies, and 

 alarm and remonstrance among his friends; and those 

 of his family who were connected with him, left him, 

 by his advice, to sustain the burden alone. In order 

 to obtain ample supplies of manure, he commenced 

 the system of stall-feeding, with a large number of 

 cattle, which were constantly supplied with fresh 

 grass, instead of being suffered to feed in the pas- 

 tures ; and erected ample reservoirs for solid and 

 liquid manure of every kind, the care of which occu- 

 pied a part of every day's labour. A system of four 

 years' cropping, with deep ploughing, and the inven- 

 tion of superior machines for breaking up the soil, 

 weeding, and sowing, ensured him success ; and the 

 lands of Hofwyl have been made to yield fourfold 

 their former produce, with an unintermitted succes- 

 sion of crops. The labours of the plough require 

 only half the number of animals formerly used, and 

 the fields of grain produce nineteen fold the amount 

 of the seed sown. 



The system of agriculture has been fully tested, 

 by repeated visits of distinguished men of science, 

 and the commissioners of various governments of 

 Switzerland and Germany, and its economical results 

 fully ascertained, as exhibiting, in a striking manner, 

 how much larger an amount of nourishment may be 

 drawn from a given portion of soil than has been 

 generally supposed. Hofwyl has furnished experi- 

 mental farmers to a number of princes and noblemen, 

 of various parts of Europe ; and its pupils have been . 

 employed in the formation and direction of some im- 

 portant agricultural institutions. An establishment 

 was also formed for the manufacture of his improved 

 instruments of agriculture, which have been sent to 

 every part of Europe. At successive periods, addi- 

 tions have been made to the domain of Hofwyl, 

 increasing it to about 690 acres ; which have fur- 

 nished all the varieties of soil and situation necessary 

 to render the whole a complete experimental and 

 model farm. But Fellenberg occupied himself in 

 improving agriculture only as a means to the more 

 important end of improving man himself ; and during 

 the whole period that he was thus actively engaged 

 in this subject, he was not less engaged in organizing 

 the institutions of education, which form the great 

 object of his life, and the chief glory of Hofwyl. 

 Soon after his friends withdrew from all participation 

 in his plans, the germ of a scientific institution was 

 formed, by associating two or three pupils with his 

 own sons, and employing private tutors at his own 

 house. 



About this time, Pestalozzi was obliged, by the 

 embarrassment of his pecuniary affairs, and the plans 

 of the government of Berne, to leave his residence. 

 On this occasion, Fellenberg was instrumental in 

 bringing him to the chateau of Buchsee, about half 

 a mile from Hofwyl, in the hope of forming, with his 

 co-operation, that republic of education which it was 

 his favourite object to establish. By Pestalozzi * 

 earnest desire, he undertook to advance him fund*, 

 and to direct the pecuniary affairs of the establish- 

 ment for a year. But the strict order and rigid 

 economy, which Fellenberg deemed necessary in a 

 large establishment, ill accorded with the impulses 

 of the good Pestalozzi, whose benevolence was as ir- 

 regular in its operation as it was ardent in its charac- 

 ter. Such a union was, in its nature, impracticable. 

 Pestalozzi soon after was offered the much superior 

 castle of Vverdun, and left the vicinity of Hofwyl 

 with unpleasant feelings towards Felleuberg, inspired 

 by a course of conduct which often restrained what 

 he deemed his best feelings, or arrested him in his 

 noble but wandering flights. 



