"France's emperor is Judas."
The Archbishop of Paris said this at the subsequent nationwide religious conference.
Bishops from every major region nodded one after another. The Jesuits, who had only just returned to France, declared it an unprecedented catastrophe and called for alarm bells to be rung across the nation.
"I think they should be funeral bells!"
"That makes sense!"
And so, led by the French Church, a mighty bell-ringing campaign began.
The ringing gave Louis-Napoleon a splitting headache. What he had done was clearly good for France, yet these people were too short-sighted to understand him.
But the French Church was still powerful now; otherwise, he would never have tried to curry favor with it.
Napoleon III now faced a dilemma. If he allowed the Church to continue attacking him, he would soon become France's great sinner.
If he struck at the Church, he would gain another enemy. The French Church had no money, no army, and not much support among the upper ranks, but its influence among the people was terrifying.
A Frenchman might not know who the mayor of his city was, but he would certainly know who his parish priest was. When that time came, Napoleon III, the Emperor of the People, would likely be abandoned by the people themselves.
"Do any of you have a way to make these people shut up?"
Napoleon III said, having finally reached the end of his patience.
"Your Majesty, even God cannot escape your control. We cannot bow our heads to these short-sighted fools. Looking across all nations throughout history, not one strong ruler has ever bowed to religion.
"If they continue to cling stubbornly to their delusions, we can follow Britain's example and establish a French state church, allowing clergy obedient to us to control religion."
Minister of