The 48 Laws Of Power

Whenthe
painting

was

finally

unveiled,however,

both

Talleyrand

and

Wellington

felt

honoredand

satisfied.Thework

depicts

a

large

hallfilled

with

diplomats

and

politicians

fromallover

Europe.

011 onesidetheDuke

of

Wellington

entersthe

room,

andall

eyes

areturnedtoward

him;

heis

the
“center”ofattention.Inthe
very

centerofthe

painting,

meanwhile,

sits

Talleyiand.

Interpretafion

Itisoften
very

difficultto

satisfy

the

master,

butto

satisfy

twomastersin

onestroketakesthe
genius

ofa

great

courtier.Such

predicaments

arecomw

moninthe
lifeofacourtier:

Bygiving

attention

toone

master,

he

dis-

pleases

another.Youmustfinda

way

to

navigate

this

Scylla

and

Charybdis

safely.

Mastersmustreceivetheir

due;

never

inadvertently

stir

up

there

sentmentofonein

pleasing

another.

Scene

V

George

Brummell,

alsoknown

asBeau

Brummell,

madehismarkin

the

late1700s

by

the

supremeelegance

ofhis

appearance,

his

popularization

of

shoebuckles

(soon

imitated

by

allthe

dandies).

andhisclever

way

with

words.HisLondonhousewasthefashionable

spot

in

town,

andBrunnnell

wasthe

authority

onall

matters

offashion.Ifhe

disliked

your

footwear,

youimmediatelygot

ridofit

and

bought

whatever

hewas

wearing.

He

per-

fectedtheartof

tying

a

cravat;

Lord

Byron

wassaidto

spendmany

a

night

infrontofthemirror

trying

to

figure

outthesecretbehindBrummell’s

per-

fect

knots.

One

of

Brummell’s

greatest

admirerswasthePrinceof

Wales,

who

fancied himself afashionable

young

man.

Becoming

attached

to

the

prince’s

court

(and

provided

witha

royalpension),

Brummellwassoonso

sureof

his‘

own

authority

therethathetookto

joking

aboutthe

prince’s

weight,referring

tohishostas

Big

Ben.Sincetrimnessof

figure

wasanim~

portantquality

for

a.

dandy,

thiswas

a

withering

criticism.

At

dinner

once,

whentheservicewas

slow,

Brummellsaidtothe

prince,

“Do

ting,Big

Ben”The

prince

rang,

butwhenthevaletarrivedheorderedthemanto

showBrummellthedoorandneveradmithim

again.

Despitefalling

intothe

prince’s

disfavor,

Brummellcontinuedtotreat

everyone

aroundhimwiththesame

arrogance.

WithoutthePrinceof

Wales’

patronage

to

support

him,

hesankintohorrible

debt,

buthemain

tainedhisinsolent

manners,

and

everyone

soonabandonedhim.Hedied

inthemost

pitiahlepoverty,

aloneand

deranged.

Interpretation

Beau

Brummell’s

devastating

witwasoneofthe

qualifies

thatendeared

him

to

the

Princeof

Wales.Butnoteven

he,

thearbiter

oftasteand

fashion,

could

getaway

witha

joke

aboutthe

prince’sappearance,

least

ofall

tohis

face.Never

joke

abouta

person’s

plumpness,

even

indirectly—andparticu*

larly

when

heis

your

master.

The

poorhouses

of

history

arefilledwith

peo-

ple

whohave

madesuch

jokes

attheir

master’s

expense.

LAW 24

‘

185