The 48 Laws Of Power

LYRIS‘x’IllSI:

Thinking

ofthc

means

by

whichhecould

nwsl

effmrlively

pemmadv

thePersians

torevolr,

/Cyrus’s/

delihcemtionx
ledhimto

adopt

the

following

plan,

whichhe

found

bestsuited

tohis

purpose.

Hewroteona

roll

ofparchmem‘

that

Axrya-gee

had

appointed

him('0

coimnand(hePersian

army;

(her:

he

summoned

an:zx.sern-

Myofllze

Persiarrs‘.

opened

(herollmtheir

presence

and

readmu

whathehadwritten.

"And

now,

he

added,

Ihaveanorder

for

you:every

manisto

appear

on

parade

will:

abillimok.

.

.X‘

Theorderwas

obeyed.

Allthemenassembled

withtheir

bilihooks,

and

Cyrus

maxi

comtnarzdwas{hall

before

Ike

day

wasout

they

shouldrlear

a

Certain

pieceofmag}:

lam)’

fullof

them»

bushes,about

eighleen

or

twentyfurlongs

Square.

Thistoowas

done,
whereupon
C
ymx

zssuedthe

further

order

that

they

should

present

themselves

again

onthe

following

day,afterhaving

taken

abath.

Meanwhile,

Cyrus

collectedand

slaughtered

allhis

father'sgoals‘,sheep,

andoxenin

preparation

foreliteztairtiug

the

wholeI’erxiun

army

at

a

banquet,together

withthe

best

wineand

breadhecould

procnm.

Thenext

day

(he

guests

assemhled,

andwere

368 LAW 43

TRANSGRESSIONOFTHELAW

Neartheendofthe

reign

ofLouis

XV,

all

ofFranceseemed

desperate

for

change.

Whenthe

king’sgrandson

andchosen

successor,

thefutureLouis

XVI,

marriedthe

fifteen-year-old

daughter

ofthe

empress

of

Austria,

the

French

caught

a

glimpse

ofthefuture

thatseemed

hopeful.

The

young

bride, Ma.rie~Antoinette,

was beautiful

and full

oflife.

She

instantly

changed

themood ofthe

court,

whichwasrankwithLouisXV’s dc»

baucheries;

eventhecommon

people,

whohad

yet

tosee

her,

talkedexcit-

edly

ofMarie-Antoinette.TheFrenchhad

growndisgusted

withtheseries

of

mistresseswhohad

dominatedLouis

XV,

and

they

looked

forwardto

sewing

theirnew

queen.

In

1773,

whenMarie-Antoinette

publicly

rode

through

thestreetsofParisforthefirst

time,

applauding

crowdsswarmed

aroundher

carriage.

“How

fortunate,”

shewroteher

mother,

“tobeina

position

inwhichonecan

gainwidespread

affectionatsolittlecost.”

In 1774 LouisXVdiedandLouisXVItookthethrone.Assoonas

Maxie-Antninette

became

queen

sheabandoned

herselftothe

pleasures

shelovedthe

most—-ordering

and

wearing

themost

expensive

gowns

and

jewelry

inthe

realm;

sporting

themost elaborate hairin

history,

her

sculpted

coiffures

rising

asmuchasthreefeetaboveher

head;

and

throwing

a

constantsuccessionofmasked

ballsand

fétes.All

of

these

whimsshe

paid

for

on

credit,

never

concerning

herselfwiththe

cost

or

who

paid

thebills.

Marie~Antoinette’s

greatestpleasure

wasthecreationand

designing

of

a

private

GardenofEdenatthePetit

Trianon,

achéteauonthe

grounds

of

Versailleswithitsownwoods.The

gardens

atthePetitTrianonweretobe

as“natural”as

possible,including

moss

appliedby

handto

the

treesand

rocks.To

heighten

the

pastoral

effect,

the

queenemployedpeasant

milk-

maids

tomilkthe

finestlooking

cows

in

the

realm;

launderersandcheese

makersin

specialpeasant

outfitsshe

helpeddesign; shepherds

totend

sheep

withsilkribbonsaroundtheirnecks.\'Vhenshe

inspected

the

bams,

shewouldwatchhermilkmaids

squeezing

milkinto

porcelain

vasesmade

atthe

royal

ceramic

works.To

pass

the

time,

Ma.rie«Antoinette would

gather

flowersinthewoodsaroundthePetit

Trianon,

orwatchher

“good

peasants”

doing

their“chores.”The

place

becamea

separate

world,

its

community

limitedtoherchosenfavofites.

Witheachnew

whim,

thecostof

maintaining

thePetitTrianonsoared.

Meanwhile.Franceitself

was

deteriorating:

Therewasfamine

and

wide

spread

discontent.Even

socially

insulatedcourtiersseethedwithresent-

ment-—the

queen

treatedthemlikechildren.

Only

herfavorites

mattered,

andthesewere

becoming

fewerandfewer.ButMarie~Antoinettedidnot

concernherselfwiththis.Notonce

throughout

her

reign

didshereada

minister’s

report.

Notoncedidshetour

the

provinces

and

rally

the

people

toherside.Notoncedidshe

mingleamong

the

Parisians,

orreceiveadc}

egation

fromthem.Shedidnoneofthese

things

becauseas

queen

shefelt

the

people

owedhertheir

affection,

andshewasnot

required

tolovethem

inreturn.

In 1784 the

queen

becameembroiled

in

ascandal.As

part

ofanelabo-

rate

swindle,

themost

expensive

diamondnecklacein

Europe

hadbeen