New-York tribune., 1903-11-14

tai1-TGe,fenant of the First Company of the
FHpgiisb Inv RaIph NeviIl In Three Volumes.
Go. y ~ w. '
1t was the custom Of the elder Dumas to an
mex as his own any driftwood which he found on
the broad stream OF literature and thought he
could exploit to good purpose. He read the
memoirs which Mr.. Nevill has now put before US
in English, and on them he based masterpiece
Of romance. There are two ways Of looking at
the transaction. If we like to believe that
Dumas was merely clever man. who owed his
fame to his skill in making of the work of
others we may turn the pages Of Courtils de
Sandras with an emotion of much satisfaction
at observing the extent to which they supplied
the French novelist with material for one of his
most famous books. We may then, after
fashion which is not altogether unpopular at the
present day, shake our heads over the facile
manner in which Alexander the Great pre-
empted the territory Of another. But If we have
the wit to recognize man Of genius for what
he is and to appraise his achievements at their
true value, we will read the book out Of which
The Three Musketeers" was made thinking
only Of the magic which enabled Dumas to
transmute into gold metal which, If not exactly
base. could hardly claim to be reckoned as
precious.
tagnan, was a Gasccn who went to Paris to
make his fortune in the adventurous spirit OF
his time, and so won the confidence Of Louis
XIV that he rose to the command of the Kings
Nusketeers. the crack corps of the French
Army. He died soldiers death at the siege of
Maestricht in 1913. Courtils de Sandras. the
man who wrote his memoirs and published
them at the dawn of the eighteenth century
may or may not have had good authority for
everything that he put into the book. It is at
least certain that the d'Artagnan he paints is
true type of his time. loyal to the King. for
midable in arms and indefatigable in affairs Of
the heart. His career was crowded with ro-
mantle adventures. Dumas, falling upon his
biography. could not but feel that here was
material absolutely suited to his purpose The
story set forth in these memoirs has its
IongueUrS, and is at times. indeed, insufferably
tedious But even in the first chapter the note
of true romance is struck. Readers Of Dumas
well remember the enticing way in which he
begins his immortal narrative. 1t was in these
words. in which the actual d'Artagnan himself
speaks. that he found his cue:
My parents were so poor that they could
only give me a pony worth - francs and
purse Of 10 crowns TO set out upon my journey.
But if they did not furnish with much
money thev gave me in it's stead large store
Of good advice. They impressed upon me the
necessity or never showing myself a coward, for
should such thing once happen, should never
recover the effect OF IL all my life. They made
me understand that the honor of the soldier,
whose profession / about to embrace
as delicate thing that Of a woman. . 1t
is sometimes dangerous to paint a too vivid
picture Of certain things TO young man, be
cause he does not always possess the sense
necessary to digest them. OF this soon had
rroof: but in the meanwhile, actuated by the
desire of following out the very letter of the
words / had heard, committed a number of
faults At first, when I saw any one staring
al me. / made IL a subject for dispute, when
nobody wished to insult me.
There you have the leading motive of "The
Three Musketeers." You find more in the NE
moirs," no doubt, that is recognizable in the
fabric OF the novel Yet IL is Immediately ap-
parent on a thoughtful scrutiny Of this old
source" that II supplied. after all. nothing
more than framework for Dumas TO clothe
with inspiration drawn solely from his own gen.
ius. Consider merely the first salient episode in
the career OF the freelance. bound for Paris. To
D'Artagnan himself the squabbe at St Die is
an incident which he is glad TO turn his back
as soon as possible; but Dumas seizes upon II
with dramatic instinct, and plunges US at once
Into that sequence OF events which makes his
novel for all its airy nonchalance as essentially
homogeneous any triumph Of carefully con-
structive art "On the morrow OF my arrival"
says D'Artasnan, Il attended the levee OF NJ
de Trevtlle, whose ante-chamber found full of
Musketeers most OF them from my native dis
trict- This quickly perceived from their man
ner OF speaking. In consequence / felt myself
half as strong again as did before. at being
as Il were. in my own country. and proceeded to
address the first man came across. The
man 7 spoke to was called Porthos. and had
lived two or three leagues from my fathers
house. Besides himself. two OF his brothers be-
lorged TO the company Of Musketeers: one was