The St. Louis Republic., 1903-02-08
REAL DAARTHGNAN
OF THE MUSKETEERS.
Historical Facts About Dumas's
Hero, Now Revealed for the
First Time by a Descend
ant of the Soldier of
Fortune.


Paris. Feb. 7.-only the other day, and in
France itself-the native country of the
Chevalier d d'Artagnan-his direct descendant.
Count Robert de Montesquiou. dating his
letter from Artagnan. the seat of the family
chateau. had to remind the world once more
that Dumas's hero was no mere figment of
the imagination, but real man who -four
lshed in the reign of Louis XII and Louis
XIV. who rose to the head of the famous
troop of musketeers, and who performed
prodigies of valor. which have been duly
recorded in his extant memoirs.
1t would seem that this, reminder was
hardly necessary Dumas himself frankly
acknowledged his indebtedness to the Me
.moires" in his preface to the first edition of
The Three Musketeers;n But then it is u
commonplace with authors that nobody
reads prefaces save reviewers. and they
read nothing else.
The great public never knew or has for
gotten that in this preface Dumas told how
he came across the Memories de NJ. OAR
tagnan.'' printed at Amsterdam. by Pierre
Rouge. "as was the custom of authors Of
that epoch who desired to tell the truth
without undergoing an experience of the
Bastile.' Dumas recommended 1t for its
extra ordinary lifelike portraits and Its vivid
adventures. He frankly. owned that he had
based his romance upon the 'Memoires.,
BACK TO THE ROMANCE.
In Twenty Years After and the Wis
count de Bragelonne' he went back to the
romance for fresh material ~
1t is true that at the time when Dumas 1na!s
wrote. these Memories" were practically
recently that they have been unearthed and
republished. 1t was but a few years ago
that they were translated into English But
1t is not in the memoirs only that d'Arta-
gnan's memory is preserved. His name may
be found in the histories of the period and
in the ensyeope,das of ,eaagH raaHie Ignorance
among well-educated people? why was II
necessary for the Conlte de Montesquiou to
address the following letter to the editor Of
"sirsIt is with much astonishment that At
read the lines concerning DArtagnan' ...ni pld
PAT the reax eaist
..Sic transit gloria mundi! Is It possible
degree? ~ WIZ, ,a
Of Louis XIV is looked upon merely as the
hero Of a romance! Perchance some DAY
we may hear it asked. Cyran0 the nero OF
point of fact this would be less extraordi-
nary question.
rs it not time. therefore. to recall to the
memories Of those who forget him. not only
that DiArtagnan really existed, but that the
circumstances of his life are as noble as
they are notable. as true as they are extra
ordinary"
The Count is now with us. 1t was at the
Westminster Hotel that he showed me this
letter and intrusted to me the best ex'ant
WHAT OF THE THREE?
But Por;hos. Aramis. Athos, that immor-
tai trio who shared the joys and the sor-
they real characters also? Yes and no.
Their names appear in the memoirs Nwo
of them under the slightly different spelling
great liberties with the facts OF their lives.
He has invested them with the quailties
and made them the heroes of adventures
real characters. Into the personality, OF
three indivituals he has crowded the char
acteristics and the experiences of score
ol The h &C Gargansuan thirst which afflicted
Atfos, for example. and the extraordinary
drinking bouts which are ascribed to him
tagnan's account of the Comte de Rant.
Eau The Count. like Athos, had occa aslonal
spells of melancholy and Inertia, when he
pagnei before they had ahny effect upon
So with Porthan or Perthos. He was
the Il a. romance. But the gluttony and brag-
gadocio which Dumas attributes to MIN
were taken from an entireEy different per
con. serving with D'Artagnan In the
Guards, and whom D'Artagnan. evidently
disliked, for he loses no opportunity to COW
er Afams n wsn Was IN reai life Henri dArams
Law able of Aramits. Like DArtagnan.
these three friends were all natives OF Gas
Dumas tells us, to have in his famous body
Of musketeers cadets Of noble Gascon
houses.
Gus ancestry and connections than Nj
Charles de Batz-Castlemore. who assumed
his mothers territorial name Of DArtasnan
at the special request q LOUIS NAL raial amu
~ SAVED HENRY OF NAVARRO:
Castlemore. belonged to the cadet branch
of a family which had always been dis
tinguished locally and often nationally +,
i was Manaud' otTar Earoh sa,ant as Gasecns.
saved the life of Henry of Navarro. and
remained his intimate friend and confidant
when the Prince became ans, hlns ,nricaf msnff ani
historical splendor on the maternal side: HIS
mothers father was Jean He Montesqulou,
seigneur not only OF Artas % nan out in,,s OF nal,
boast princely lineage that traces itself In
The direct line to King Clovis
married to Seigneur de Batz-Castlemore on
February q, 1908, at the Chateau d'Artag-
nan. IN the village of the same name. in the
upper Pyrenees The chateau, as already
that our hero was born. He was the young
est Of four sons. all of whom. save himself.
1T It was in the year 1910, and not. as the
novel has it. in 1896, that young D'Artagnan
set out on his famous nag to seek his for
tunes in Paris Finanfiayi hh bne ram,,y ioT
describe the domestic poverty with as little
reserve as Dumas does. The opening chap
Lers are. indeed followed pretty closely by
the novelist. The youths departure from
home to seek the good offices of his k!ns-
man and fellow countryman, NJ de Treville,
Captain Lieutenant Of the Mousquetaires.
the corps in which 1t is his day dream to
be enrolled; the farewells with his father
and the latters repeated admonitions never
10 suffer the slightest afIront to pass un-
avenged, the events on the journey between
Blois and Orieans-all these have been
adopted by Dumas.
DUELS FOUNDED ON FACT.
Similarly, Dumas's story of the events
which led up to the appointment of OF
D'Artagnan in the Kings Guards is sub
stantiaIy in accord with history. tr..
The preliminary duels, to be sure. owe
to the imagination Of the ro-
nancer. but they have their foundation in
-act. D'Artagnan tells US how. while he
was waiting in the snte-chamber of NJ. de
Treville. he made himself known to Por-
hos. with whose relatives in Bearn he had
some acquaintance.
Porthos seems to have resented the
Youths presumption. At all events. he
made some flippant remark which aroused
he ire of the latter. Straiehtawav D'Ar-
.agnan challenged his new found friend to
duel. But Porthos already had an affair
IN his hands. He. with Athco and Aramis.
xer. to. fight three OF the soidier1 OF the
Cardinals Guards.
Saajpu tbot the ,,o,npSter wac ea0er for q