What follows is a reposting of "The Trial of AdM, part 1" Since I jumped the gun a bit last month, it is worth reposting.
********* It was raining again, as it had nearly every day this month, as Vicomte leBlanc's carriage pulled up at Versailles. "So this is what it feels like to live in England" the Vicomte thought to himself. "Small wonder they try to get off their damned island so often." The audience chamber will filled with people. The Cardinal had already arrived along with a dozen of his Guard. Most of the King's Ministers had taken up residence near the front of the room in order to get a better view. And the open space surrounded by the Caraboniers could only be reserved for the Princess. "Wonderful" leBlanc thought. "Not only do I have to try a case against the Minister of State, but I have to do it in front of his own Lady wife and her personal firing squad." That train of thought, as well as all conversation in the room, was hushed by the arrival of the King's herald. After the full introduction, the Royal Family entered and took the seats reserved for them.. "Commissioner, are you ready to present your case?" "I certainly am, Your Majesty" "Bring in Duc deMylcondonai" Duc deMylcondonai was escorted in between two King's Musketeers and was seated on the right at the defense's table. "Please begin Commissioner" Vicomte leBlanc cleared his throat "Your Majesty, Noble Ministers, Lords and Ladies. i ocme before you today with extreme reluctance. France has seen too many of it's Ministers in the defense box of a treason trial. Still, when the evidence against Duc deMylcondonai is presented before you, I hope that you will see that I had no choice but to bring this to a trial before His Majesty and for him to determine the severity of these crimes and their appropriate punishment." "I will present my case in four parts, one for each of the central charges. Today, I will begin by presenting the charges of embezzlement, and gross neglect of duty to the Crown." leBlanc paused to lift a sheaf of paper from the table. Duc deMylcondonai, would you please take the stand." "Duc deMylcondonai, for the record, you are His Majesty's Minister of State, correct?" "I am, of course" "And you are responsible for the appointment of most of His Majesty's other ministers, is that correct?" "I am" leBlanc checks his papers - "So tell me, who is current Minister of Colonial Affairs?" "That position is vacant" "And has been for your entire terms as Minister of State, is that correct?" "It is, but I hardly . . . "And you are responsible for the duties of a vacant Ministerial position, correct Duc deMylcondonai?" . . see where that matters . . . . Yes, that is correct." leBlanc turned to the bench. "Your Majesty, as you know, my office has been conducting an investigation into the operations of the Governor's office of the Crown Colony of Hispanola. Given the results of that investigation, my agents investigated all of the colonies in the Americas." leBlanc lifted the papers in his hand - "Those reports show a level of corruption which I found to be shocking. The full reports are submitted as evidence, but in theinterest of time, I would like to present some excerpts now. Duc deMylcondonai, this is the report from the Crown Colony of Martinique. Would you read the last paragraph, please?" de Mylcondonai took the page and cleared his throat "To summarize, we found an unprecedented level of corruption in the Crown Colony of Martinique. The current governor is in ill health, and this allows his staff free run of the colonial office. We estimate that fully a quarter of all the revenues the King's offices receive do not make it back to France, but are diverted into the personal accounts of various members of the colonial staff. We respectfully suggest that the entire office be purged from top to bottom and replaced by more patriotic and loyal men." "Thank you. This is the report from Louisana -- New Orleans to be exact. Again, would you read the last paragraph? de Mylcondonai adjusted his reading glasses. "Several significant assets of the Louisana colony remain unaccounted for despite several weeks of searching. These assets total nearly a million Francs and include His Majesty's frigate Bordeaux. and several smaller ships. We can only assume that those items have been diverted from the Crown to other uses. In particular, there have been several reports of piracy in the area, which may reveal the final fate of His Majesty's shipping in the area. These items are missing because of the ineptitude or corruption of the colonial staff in His Majesty's colony." "One more, good Duc. This report comes from the Crown colony in Guyana." de Mylcondonai took the paper. "After a week's wait, we were finally escorted to the Governor's mansion. Apparently, Governor deVille has appropriated an entire plantation to take care of his personal needs. The Governor's palace [as one can hardly call it anything but] has every convenience one might expect in His Majesty's own audience chambers. While Governor deVille did not say the words, it is clear that he considers himself to be independent and essentially above the rule of the Crown. This is a situation, which deserves prompt attention" "Thank you Duc de Mylcondonai. as can be seen by these reports, the level of corruption and insubordination is unparalleled. I have similiar reports from virtually every other French colony in the Americas -- Guadeloupe and French Canada. Under normal circumstances, these issues would be settled by the Minister of Colonial Affairs, but that office has been left deliberately vacant by Duc de Mylcondonnai. The question is why? Does Duc de Mylcondonai profit from the obscene level of corruption in the colonies? Or rather, is this simply a case where a Ministers gross negligence allowed a problem to fester until the cure is almost as painful as the problem? That is a determination I can not make. it is clear, however, that one of the two -- embezzlement or deliberate negligence must exist. Your Majesty, I am sure you can discern which." ************************************************** Steve Nicewarner Cerebral Hobbies Chapel Hill, NC www.cerebralhobbies.com ************************************************** > _______________________________________________ Banana mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.humf.su.se/mailman/listinfo/banana
