The 48 Laws Of Power

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292 LAW 35

OBSERVANCE OFTHELAW

Starting

outinlifeasa

nondescript

French

seminary-school

teacher,

Joseph

Fouchéwanderedfromtown

to

townformostofthedecadeofthe

17805,

teaching

mathematics

to

youngboys.

Yethenever

completely

committed

himselftothe

church,

nevertookhisvowsasa

pn'est—he

had

biggerplans.

Patiently

waiting

forhis

chance,

he

kept

his

options

open.

Andwhenthe

FrenchRevolutionbroke

out,

in

1789,

Fouchéwaitedno

longer:

He

got

rid

ofhis

cassock,

grew

hishair

long,

andbecamea

revolutionary.

Forthiswas

the

spirit

ofthetimes.Tomisstheboatatthiscriticalmomentcouldhave

spelt

disaster.Fouchédidnotmisstheboat:

Befriending

the

revolutionary

leader

Robespierre,

he

quickly

roseintherebelranks.In 1792 thetownof

NanteselectedFouchétobeits

representative

totheNational

Convention

(created

that

year

toframeanewconstitutionforaFrench

republic).

WhenFouchéarrivedinParisto

take

hisseatat

the

convention,

a

vio-

lentrifthadbrokenoutbetweenthemoderatesandtheradical

Jacobins.

Fouchésensedthatinthe

long

runneithersidewould

emerge

victorious.

Power

rarely

ends

up

inthehandsofthosewhostarta

revolution,

oreven

ofthosewhofurther

it;

power

sticks

tothose

who

bring

it

toa

conclusion.

ThatwasthesideFouchéwantedtobeon.

His

sense

of

timing

was

uncanny.

Hestartedasa

moderate,

formoderv

ateswereinthe

majority.

Whenthetimecametodecideonwhetherornot

toexecuteLouis

XVI,however,

hesawthatthe

people

were

clamoring

for

the

king’s

head,

so

he

castthe

deciding

vote~—forthe

guillotine.

Nowhe

hadbecomearadical.Yetas

tensions

came

to

the

boil

in

Paris,

heforesaw

the

danger

of

being

too

closely

associatedwith

any

one

faction,

soheac-

cepted

a

position

inthe

provinces,

wherehecouldlielowforawhile.A

fewmonthslaterhewas

assigned

tothe

post

of

proconsul

in

Lyons,

where

he

oversaw

the

executionofdozensofaristocrats.At

a

certain

moment,

however,

hecalledahalttothe

killings,sensing

thatthemoodofthecoun-

ny

was

turning—anddespite

theblood

already

onhis

hands,

thecitizensof

Lyons

hailedhimasasaviorfromwhathadbecomeknownastheTerror.

SofarFouchéhad

played

hiscards

brilliantly,

butin 1794 his

old

friend

Robespierre

recalledhimtoParistoaccountforhisactionsin

Lyons.

Robespierre

hadbeenthe

driving

forcebehindtheTerror.Hehadsent

headsonboththe

right

andtheleft

rolling,

and

Fouché,

whomheno

longertrusted,

seemeddestinedto

provide

thenexthead.Overthenext

few

weeks,

atense

struggle

ensued: While

Robespierre

railed

openly

against

Fouché,

accusing

ofhim

dangerous

ambitionsand

calling

forhisar»

rest,

the

crafty

Fouchéworkedmore

indirectly,

quietly

gaining

support

among

thosewhowere

beginning

totireof

Robespierre’s

dictatorialcon-

trol.Fouchéwas

playing

fortime.Heknewthatthe

longer

he

survived,

the

moredisaffectedcitizenshecould

rallyagainstRobespierre.

Hehadto

havebroad

support

beforehemoved

against

the

powerful

leader.

He

ral-

lied

supportamong

boththemoderatesandthe

jacobins,

playing

onthe

widespread

fearof

Robespierre-—everyone

wasafraidof

being

thenextto

go

tothe

guillotine.

Itallcametofruitionon

July

27:Theconvention