Franz X. Zeltner to Thomas Jefferson, 29 October 1817
From Franz X. Zeltner
à Soleure en Suisse le 29. octobre 1817.
Monsieur!
C’est avec une douleur extrème que je dois Vous anoncer la perte cruelle, que nous Venons de faire dans la persone du Grand, et Imortel Général Kosciuszko, expiré dans mes bras le quinze de ce Mois à la suitte d’une fievre Violente, Contre la quelle tous les secours de l’art, et les Soins de l’amitié ont été infructueux. Ce grand home, qui m’avoit honoré de son amitié, et de Sa Confiance depuis plus de vingt Ans, s’étoit rétiré depuis deux Anées dans le Sein de ma famille, ou il comptoit passer sa Vie A moins que des circonstances plus heureuses, qu’il n’osoit que foiblement espérer n’eussent fait renaitre un Jour sa malheureuse Patrie, et ne l’eussent appellé en ce Cas au milieu des Siens.—peu de Semaines avant sa maladie il me Comuniqua la dernière lettre, qu’il Vous avoit écrite, et peu de jours avant sa mort il me parla encor de Vous, de Votre intérrèssante Patrie, du progrès des lumières, de la population, de la puissance de Cette Seule République dans le Monde, digne objet de nos voeux, sur la prospérité, et la Conservation de la quelle les malheureux peuples de notre hémisphère osent fonder encor leur Unique espérance.
j’ai crû devoir faire mettre le Scéllé du Gouvernement, de mème que mon cachet sur les papiers du Général, s’il s’y trouvent de vos lettres, elles resteront intactes, et à Votre disposition.
Permettez moi de profiter de cette occasion pour Vous parler de mes Compatriotes, qui Vont s’établir dans Votre Patrie. je suis fort éloigné de blâmer leur résolution, et m’y serois peutêtre depuis longtems décidé aussi si des circonstances impérieuses ne m’en avoient empéché. ils quittent une terre, qui n’a plus que le nom d’une République pour aller chercher sous un Sol plus heureux, et un Gouvernement Sage, et libéral un bonheur, qu’ils ne trouveroient pas en Suisse, mais il en est dans le nombre, qui dépourvûs de moyens, de Conoissances, et de renseignements nécéssaires, sont dans la plus grande détresse, Veuillez Monsieur! S’il est possible, leur accorder Votre protection.
J’aurois désiré qu’une circonstance moins affligeante, que la mort de notre illustre Ami m’eut procuré l’avantage d’écrire à un des plus digne Magistrat de la plus Respectable des Puissance.
| f: X: Zeltner |
| cidevant Préfet Natl—du Canton de Soleure. |
Editors’ Translation
Solothurn in Switzerland 29. October 1817.
Sir!
With extreme sorrow I must advise you of the cruel loss we have just suffered in the person of the great and immortal General Kosciuszko, who expired in my arms on the fifteenth of this month following a violent fever, against which all human skill and friendly care were fruitless. This great man, who honored me with his friendship and trust for more than twenty years, retired two years ago into the bosom of my family, intending to spend the rest of his life there, unless happier circumstances, for which he hardly dared to hope, would someday allow his unfortunate country to be reborn, in which case he would be called back among his own there. A few weeks prior to his illness, he communicated to me the last letter he had written you, and a few days before his death he was still talking to me about you; your interesting country; and the progress of the enlightenment, population, and power of this sole republic in the world, the worthy object of our best wishes, on whose prosperity and preservation the unfortunate people of our hemisphere still dare to place their only hope.
I thought I ought to have the government seal as well as my stamp placed on the general’s papers. If any of your letters are found among them, they will be kept intact and at your disposal.
Permit me to take advantage of this opportunity to mention to you my countrymen who are going to settle in your nation. Far from criticizing their decision, I would perhaps have decided long ago to go there myself, if pressing circumstances had not prevented me. They are leaving a land that is a republic in name only to seek, on happier soil and under a wise and liberal government, the happiness they could not find in Switzerland. Some of them, however, lacking means, knowledge, and necessary information, are in the greatest distress. Please Sir! If possible, grant them your protection.
I wish that I had been able to write one of the most worthy magistrates of the most respectable power under less distressing circumstances than the death of our illustrious friend.
| F: X: Zeltner |
| formerly national prefect of the canton of Solothurn. |
RC (CSmH: JF-BA); dateline adjacent to signature; addressed: “À Monsieur Monsieur Th: Jefferson cidevant Président du Congrès des Etats Unis de l’Amérique—À Monticello. Amérique Septentrionale Etats Unis”; stamped “SHIP”; franked; postmarked Philadelphia, 15 Mar.; endorsed by TJ as received 24 Mar. 1818 and so recorded in SJL. Translation by Dr. Genevieve Moene.
Franz Xaver Zeltner (1764–1835), public official, was born in Solothurn, Switzerland. He attended a Jesuit school there before serving in France as an officer in the Swiss Guards, 1781–88. Returning to Switzerland, he was a member of the Grand Council of the canton of Solothurn, 1793–98, and governor of the city of Lugano, 1793–94. When France invaded Switzerland in 1798, Zeltner was temporarily detained, but he went on to serve as a senator in the Helvetic Republic and, from 1798 to 1800, as national prefect of the canton of Solothurn. From 1802 to 1803 Zeltner represented the Helvetic Republic in Paris, where he befriended Tadeusz Kosciuszko. Zeltner sat on the Grand Council of Solothurn as a member of the liberal opposition, 1810–14, and he was an appellate court judge, 1811–14. While serving in the provisional government in 1814 he was arrested for attempted insurrection. Zeltner hosted Kosciuszko between 1815 and 1817 at his home, where the general died. The Zeltner family claimed Kosciuszko’s American assets based on his 1817 will, but the document was declared invalid in an 1852 ruling by the United States Supreme Court. Zeltner retired to the canton of Ticino in 1827, and he died in Saronno, Italy (Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse [2002–14]; Peter F. Kopp, “Xaver Zeltner—vielbesungener Landvogt und revolutionärer Dramenheld,” Jahrbuch für solothurnische Geschichte 67 [1994]: 67–125; Xavier Zeltner, “Personal Reminiscences of Kosciuszko,” United States Service Magazine 4 [1865]: 136–46; , 55 [14 Howard]: 398–432).
A brief, unaddressed note from Zeltner’s brother, Peter J. Zeltner, also announced Kosciuszko’s death. Written at Berville, France, on 24 Oct. 1817, it was later identified in court documents, probably mistakenly, as having been directed to TJ. This missive, which was neither endorsed by TJ nor recorded in SJL, reads “Monsieur Zeltner, ancien Ministre Plenipotentiaire de la République Helvetique, a la douleur de vous faire part de la perte qu’il vient de faire; par la mort de Monsieur le Géneral Kosciuszko, son ancien ami, decede à soleure en Suisse, le 15 Octobre, à 10 heures du soir” (“Mr. Zeltner, former minister plenipotentiary from the Helvetic Republic, has the sorrow to inform you of the loss he has just suffered through the death of General Kosciuszko, his old friend, who died in Solothurn, Switzerland, on 15 October at 10 o’clock in the evening”) (MS in DNA: RG 21, CCDCCR, Chancery Dockets and Rules Case Files, 1804–63, Rules 4, box 121, case 125, Armstrong v. Lear, probably in Zeltner’s hand, with unidentified initials or abbreviation, possibly in a different hand, at foot of text; Tr in DNA: RG 267, SCACF, box 141, case 1303, Armstrong v. Lear, with recipient given as TJ on a preceding page of the case file).
Index Entries
- French language; letters in, from; F. X. Zeltner search
- immigration; from Switzerland search
- Kosciuszko, Tadeusz (Thaddeus) Andrzej Bonawentura; death of search
- Switzerland; emigrants from search
- Zeltner, Franz Xaver; and emigrants from Switzerland search
- Zeltner, Franz Xaver; and T. Kosciuszko’s death search
- Zeltner, Franz Xaver; identified search
- Zeltner, Franz Xaver; letters from search
- Zeltner, Peter Josef; and T. Kosciuszko’s death search