The article contains information about the museum in Solura, Switzerland, where he spent the last years of his life. In addition to a woodcut drawing of the room itself and its detailed textual description, there is a characterisation of Kościuszko himself at the end of his life and a reminiscence of his scientific care for Emilia Zeltner (source: Tygodnik Illustrowany, Warsaw 1860, T:2, pp. 595-598., after: Digital Library of the University of Łódź).

A modernised reading of the text

TADEUSZ KOSCIUSZKO'S ROOM IN SOLURA, DONATED TO HIM BY THE CITIZENS OF THE CITY OF BRISTOL IN THE UNITED STATES OF NORTH AMERICA.

Kościuszko, after the storms of his life and the adversities he suffered, settled permanently in Solura in early 1815, in the home of his friend Zeltner. The Zeltner family, although one of the oldest and most prominent in Switzerland, became impoverished by accidents of fortune. When the French Revolution sadly affected the fate of Switzerland as well, the Zeltners, at a great loss, having been forced to sell all their landed estates, came from a considerable fortune to very modest possessions. Kościuszko became acquainted with this family in its heyday; after the collapse of its fortunes, his attachment grew in adoration because of that serenity of mind and tranquillity of soul with which both the Zeltners themselves and their children, accustomed from youth to comforts, endured the vicissitudes of fortune.

For the first time in his life, as he himself confessed, our hero felt happy in their company, felt the sweetness of family life in his own solitude. Of his relatives, he had no-one left but his only sister, living in Poland, his native land of Śniechowice, two nephews and two nieces, whose upbringing he entrusted to General Paszkowski, who lived in the countryside near Kraków, having left him a sufficient fund for this purpose. The seventy-year old man liked most the company of the women who made up the Zeltner family. He was particularly fond of his eldest daughter, Emilia, aged fourteen and combining the most beautiful qualities of soul and heart with an alluring, graceful figure.

In order to develop in her the outgrowth of his high abilities, Kościuszko devoted himself exclusively to the upbringing of his favourite creature. He himself taught her geography and history, paying attention mainly to those places in Europe and America where great men and women had done memorable deeds in history. In his history lectures, especially when he told her about the history of the Roman Republic, his noble countenance shone with an extraordinary expression. He was often amazed when a young pupil, with her usual perspicacity, would ask him questions or reveal her thoughts, contrary to Kościuszko's ideas. One eminent compatriot, when he visited him in Solura a few months before the hero's death, found him sitting over a map of ancient Italy, on which he was pointing out to a dear little friend (chère petite amie) the places where Hannibal's army had passed.

The young pupil, summoned by her teacher, repeated without stammering the entire sequence of the famous Carthaginian's expedition against the Romans, the crossing of the Pyrenees, the battles of Trebia, at Lake Trazymena and at Cannae. With the fervour of a youthful soul, she hovered over the prowess of Hannibal, whom she regarded as a most formidable leader. When Kościuszko drew her attention to Hannibal's numerous faults and mistakes, and on the other hand praised the prudence and valour of Fabius and Scipio, Emilia Zeltnerówna, trying to stick to her opinion, called the Carthaginian leader the greatest hero of his age, superior in valour and genius to all Romans. Then Kościuszko, rising and laughing, exclaimed in French:

"Well, my adversary with a Carthaginian heart, has triumphed over her Roman teacher.".

He could deny his young daughter, as he called Emilia Zeltnerówna, nothing. Often, to please her, he would give children's balls to which her friends and companions were invited. The old man's face lit up with extraordinary joy when he watched the innocent games of the youngsters, their merry jumps and dances, their unquestioning eagerness. He often mingled with them himself, disposing of their amusements. Therefore, universally loved, when he left home, a circle of children always surrounded him. He gave allowances to the poor, toys, fruit and sweets to the others, which he always carried with him, although he never used them himself, as well as any fussy and gourmet food. In the camp, black and coarse bread, simple dishes, a glass of beer made up his usual food, as a burqa was his covering, a saddle a pillow.

The same moderation marked his life in Paris and Solura. He ate at the same table with his friends, resigning himself to simple household dishes; he wore an old navy blue frock-coat, bearing no insignia with which he was adorned: he was only accustomed to attaching roses or red nails to the button, as he was particularly fond of these flowers. The ladies living in Solura also took part in supplying him with these his favourites even in the middle of winter. A prominent feature of Kościuszko's character was his charity and willingness to help his fellow man. When he first came to Warsaw as chief of the army, a poor saddler with a large family stood before him and asked for help. Kościuszko gave him what he had, and he had no more than forty Polish zloty; but sensing how little he could spare, he had a happy thought and ordered him to prepare a few dozen whips for the horses.

The next day, riding along Freta Street among a large staff, he stopped in front of a saddler's shop, who was waiting for him with the prepared product. So he took one, and, shaking it, exclaimed: "Believe me, gentlemen, it is a fine batoque." And he gave the saddler an eight-gold thaler. His retinue took the rest, paying well, and so at once the poor saddler was lifted out of his misery, for from then on people flocked to him and bought similar baton-horns. Kościuszko's charity was also known in Switzerland. Apart from giving generous gifts, he visited the unfortunate and comforted them with words and hope. His saddle horse, on which he rode out every day around ten o'clock in the morning, became so used to him that as soon as he saw a poor person, he stopped. Two poor families in Solara, during the hard winter of 1810, having sold off what they could of their belongings, were in danger of having the rest taken away from them for unpaid taxes and being expelled from the town.

So they went to Mrs Zeltnerowa to ask for help. She herself was not in a position to provide such help, and Kościuszko did not dare to ask, especially knowing that the thresholds of his flat were surrounded by the unfortunate all that day, whom he supported generously. After supper, he noticed the sadness on Mrs Zeltner's face, investigated the cause, and having learnt all about it, immediately brought the money needed to rescue the unfortunate families, asking her to bring them this relief when he himself could not go. - Don't delay a moment, even though it's late, my friend (he pronounced); wake up, even though these poor people are sleeping. They will rest more peacefully when they know that the last of their possessions will not be taken from them tomorrow. We give here, in a faithful drawing, the room in which Kościuszko lived during his stay in Solura.

The bed under the curtain, which we see on the right-hand side, was covered with a hard mattress, two pillows and a light duvet. By its side, on a pillar, there was Christ falling beneath the cross, an emblem under which he prayed and at which he often looked with bemused eyes. In the middle stood a comfortable sofa, in front of it a table with writing implements; opposite it a large armchair. At the side there was a sofa with cushions, the edges of which were carved with eagles. Near the window a pot with a rose bush, so favourite with the hero. This bush was always changed so that it was covered with flowers. In summer he always got up at five o'clock in the morning, in winter at six.

After breakfast, in the company of the Zeltner family, he would go to this room, where, having facilitated numerous correspondences, he would occupy himself with reading or composing questions and tasks for his favourite pupil. About four o'clock after dinner he used to play billiards, and as he was not in the Zeltner house, he would go to the nearby professors' collegium for this purpose: later he would again ride out on horseback, or visit the slender circle of his friends. In the evening, in their circle, in the company of the learned doctor Shirer, Abbe Shmitt, the merchant Bettin, Colonel Crimma and several others, he would pass the time in conversation, either listening to music or playing a few games of recorder. Having fallen ill on 1 October 1817, he wrote his will and had all his papers in Polish burnt.

On the fifteenth of that month, surrounded by the Zeltner family, he bade them farewell and blessed them. He had his truncheon, with which he had once shown brave comrades-in-arms the way to fame in both half-worlds, handed to him, and having raised it with a trembling hand to the sky, he asked for it to be placed in his coffin. He gave the second, Jan Sobieski's truncheon, given to him in 1799 by legionaries, to the collection of national mementoes.

About ten o'clock in the evening, having risen in bed, he wanted to speak, but could not do so: he only gave his right hand to his friend Zeltner, his left to his noble wife. He looked around and saw his beloved pupil, Emilia, standing there, crying; he smiled at her, sighed and fell asleep in an eternal sleep, on the same bed that we see in the attached engraving. We give here also a detailed drawing of the chalice which was presented to Kościuszko by the citizens of the city of Bristol in the United States of America, North America, at the time of his re-appearance in 1797 in the land for the freedom of which he had fought in the days of his youth.