The 48 Laws Of Power

214 LAW 26

REVERSAI.

The

cat’s~paw

andthe

scapegoat

must

beused

with

extremecautionand

delicacy.

They

arelikescreensthathide

your

owninvolvementin

dirty

workfromthe

public;

ifat

any

momentthescreenisliftedand

you

are

seenasthe

manipulator,

the

puppet

master,

thewhole

dynamic

aims

around—your

handwillbeseen

everywhere,

and

you

willbeblamedfor

misfortunes

youmay

havehad

nothing

to

dowith.

Once

thetruthisre

vealed,

events

will

snowball

beyondyour

control.

In

1572,

Queen

Catherinede’MédicisofFrance

conspired

todo

away

with

Gaspard

de

Coligny,

anadmiralintheFrench

navy

anda

leading

memberofthe

Huguenot

(FrenchProtestant)

community.Coliguy

was

close

to

Catherine’s

son,

Charles

IX,

andshefearedhis

growing

influence

on

the

youngking.

Soshe

arranged

for

amemberoftheGuise

family,

one

ofthemost

powerful

royal

clansin

France,

toassassinatehim.

Secretly,

however,

Catherinehadanother

plan:

SheWantedtheHu-

guenots

toblametheGuisesfor

killing

oneoftheir

leaders,

andtotakere

venge.

Withone

blow,

she

woulderase

or

injure

two

threatening

rivals,

Coligny

andtheGuise

family.

Yetboth

plans

went

awry.

Theassassin

missed

his

target, only woundingColigny; knowing

Catherine ashis

enemy,

he

stronglysuspected

itwasshewhohadset

up

theattackon

him,

andhetold

the

king

so.

Eventually

thefailed

assassinationandthe

argu-

mentsthat

ensued

fromitsetoffachainofeventsthatledtoa

bloody

civil

warbetweenCatholicsand

Protestants,

culminating

inthe

horrifying

Mas

sacreofSt.Bartholomew’s

Eve,

inwhichthousandsofProtestantswere

killed.

If

you

havetousea

cat’s—paw

ora

scapegoat

inanactionof

great

con-

sequence,

be

very

careful:Toomuchcan

gowrong.

It

isoftenwisertouse

such

dupes

in

moreinnocent

endeavors,

where

mistakesormiscalculations

willcausenoseriousharm.

Finally,

therearemomentswhenitis

advantageous

tonot

disguise

your

involvementor

responsibility,

butrathertotaketheblame

yourself

forsome

mistake.If

you

have

power

and

are

securein

it,

you

should

some

times

play

the

penitent:

Withasorrowful

look,

you

askfor

forgiveness

fromthoseweakerthan

you.

Itisthe

ploy

ofthe

king

whomakesashowof

hisownsacrificesforthe

good

ofthe

people.Similarly,upon

occasion

you

may

wantto

appear

asthe

agent

of

punishment

inordertoinstillfearand

trembling

in

your

subordinates.

Insteadofthe

ca.t‘s~pawyou

show

your

own

mighty

handasa

threateninggesture.Play

suchacard

sparingly.

If

youplay

ittoo

often,

fearwillturnintoresentmentandhatred.Before

you

know

it,

suchemotionswill

spark

a

vigorousopposition

thatwill

someday

bringyou

down.Getinthehabitof

using

a

cat’s-paw——it

isfarsafer.