The 48 Laws Of Power

TRANSGRESSIONOFTHELAW

In

July

of

1830,

arevolutionbrokeoutinParisthatforced the

king,

Charles

X,

toabdicate.Acommissionofthe

highest

authoritiesintheland

gathered

tochoose a

successor,

and theman

they

picked

was Louis-

Philippe,

the

DukeofOrleans.

Fromthe

beginning

it

wasclearthat

Louis~Philippe

would

be

a

differ

amkindof

king,

andnot

just

becausehecamefromadifferentbranchof

the

royalfamily,

orbecausehehadnotinheritedthecrownbuthadbeen

given
it,
by

a

commission,

putting

his

legitimacy

in

question.

Ratheritwas

thathe

disliked

ceremony

andthe

trappings

of

royalty;

hehad

more

friends
among

thebankersthan

among

the

nobility;

andhis

style

wasnot

tocreateanewkindof

royal

rule,

as

Napoleon

had

done,

butto

downplay

his

status,

thebettertomixwiththebusinessmenandmiddle-classfolk

whohadcalledhimtolead.Thusthe

symbols

thatcametobeassociated

with

Louis-Philippe

wereneither

the

scepter

nor

the

crown,

butthe

gray

hatandumbrellawithwhichhewould

proudly

walk

the

streetsof

Paris,

as

ifhewerea

bourgeois

outforastroll.VVhen

Louis—Philippe

invited

James

Rothschild,

themost

important

bankerin

France,

tohis

palace,

hetreated

himasan

equal.

Andunlike

anyking

before

him,

not

only

didhetalkbusi-

ness

withMonsieurRothschildbutthatwas

literally

allhe

talked,

for

he

loved

money

andhadamasseda

huge

fortune.

Asthe

reign

ofthe

“bourgeoisking”plodded

on,

people

cametode

spire

him.The

aristocracy

couldnotendurethe

sight

ofan

unkinglyking,

andwithinafew

yearsthey

turnedonhim.Meanwhilethe

growing

classof

the

poor,including

theradicalswhohadchasedoutCharles

X,

foundno

satisfactionin

a

rulerwhoneitheractedas

a

king

nor

governed

asamanof

the

people.

Thebankerstowhom

Louis-Philippe

wasthemostbeholden

soonrealizedthatitwas

they

whocontrolledthe

country,

not

he,

and

they

treatedhimwith

growingcontempt.

One

day,

atthestartofatrain

trip

or-

ganized

forthe

royalfamily,James

Rothschild

actually

beratedhim-and

iri

public-—forbeing

late.Oncethe

king

had

madenews

bytreating

the

bankerasan

equal;

nowthebankertreatedthe

king

as

an

inferior.

Eventually

theworkers’insurrectionsthathad

brought

downLouis-

Phi1ippe’spredecessorbegan

to

ree.-merge,

andthe

kingput

themdown

withforce.But

whatwashe

defending

so

brutally?

Nottheinstitutionofthe

monarchy,

whichhe

disdained,

norademocratic

republic,

whichhis

rule

prevented.

Whathewas

reallydefending,

it

seemed,

washisown

fortune,

andthefortunesofthebankers—-nota

way

to

inspireloyalty

among

the

citizenry.

In

early

1848,

Frenchmenofall

classes

began

todemonstrateforelec-

toralreformsthatwouldmakethe

countrytruly

democratic.

ByFebruary

thedemonstrationshadturnedviolent.To

assuage

the

populace,

Louis-

Philippe

firedhis

prime

ministerand

appointed

aliberalasa

replacement.

Butthiscreatedthe

opposite

ofthedesiredeffect:The

people

sensed

they

could

push

the

king

around.

Thedemonstrations

turnedintoa

l'ull~fledged

revolution,

with

gunfire

andbarricadesinthestreets.

z'\/ever[are

your

self-rre¢‘[)ect.

norbetoo

fimu/far

with

yourself

.when

you

arealone.

I 11

yrmrimegri/{V

ilxr,-If

be

your

ownrraizdard

of

rrclilude.and

he

moreindebtedto(he

Arvrzrily

oj'yuur

awn

judgnmitofyaum-elf

thantoall

external

prewpls.

Desist

from

mlsreemly

rundurr.

ratherour

ofrespect

foryour

ownvirme

than

for

Ike.a‘n'i(l1rrr?5

cvfexlernalzzurlzoriry.

Come(0hold

yourself

inawe.and

you

will

havenoneed

of

Smear’;

zrrmginury

tutor.

BAIII.-NS/\RGRA(~m.\'.

1001 I058

LAW 34 293