Marquis Alain de Mylcandonai
To: Duc Axel von Fersen
Your Grace,
I by no means deny the right of the Minister of State to meddle in political
matters. That is what His Majesty has appointed him to do. It is his right
to meddle in military affairs that I would question.
With all due respect, since this is a military matter I would consider
myself and those other Lt.Generals and above (all of whose opinions coincide
with mine) to be far more qualified to pass judgement on military affairs
than a gentleman who has but recently been brevetted Brigadier and another
who, from the point of view of ability, was extrememly fortunate to ever
achieve that rank. Although never having held a government post directly, I
have been involved closely in those political matters having a bearing on
military affairs for some considerable time and think it unlikely that you
may know His Majesty any better than one who has had the honour to be the
consort of His Majesty's daugher for almost a year.
As a member of a family which has served the Kings of France for untold
generations, I imbibed the concept that it is His Majesty who is at the head
of the army (rather than his Minister of State, as Duc Senior and yourself
would appear to have it) with my mother's milk. If this were _not_ the case,
why would his Majesty bother to appoint a Minister of War at all, since this
should obviously be one of the duties of the Minister of State?
Not being a native of France yourself, of course, or having personal
memories of the terrible Fronds or virtual dictatorship of the disgraced
Fouquet, I can see how your opinions might differ. Regarding Duc Senior's
antecedents I am completely ignorant - though 'Senior' has a definate
English ring to me (not that I would consider voicing this possible slur
publicly, you understand).
Finally, this is not a question of whether or not I may appeal against any
sentence handed down by Duc Senior, but whether or not a loyal subject
should be charged with treason on the basis of defending the Rights and
Privileges of His Majesty in the first place. Frankly, I would far rather
face death on the scaffold than live in a land where my Sovereign was little
more than a helpless puppet of his Minister of State. As I said above, I
remember the shame which Fouquet brought down on France only too well.
Regarding your postscript, if you truly feel that the purpose of the
Minister of War is merely to blindly follow the dictates of the Minister of
State, then why apply for the post at all? Surely your objectives would be
more effectively achieved by petitioning His Majesty to merge the two
ministries into one, with but a single head?
Yours
Marquis Alain de Mylcandonai
