But let us hasten to the concluding chapter of that period in history reaching from 1848 to 1870, with which we have been dealing. The third Napoleon began to realize that after all he was a mere figure-head in the empire which he had created by violating his own oath and abrogating the constitution. The real sovereign of the French was Pope Pius IX. In other words, the relation between pope and emperor was that which the bible suggests should exist between husband and wife. The pope was the husband, the emperor was the wife, and, as commanded in the bible, a wife must obey her husband. Napoleon more than once made attempts to free himself from the ever-tightening grip of the pope, but only to find that he was helpless. For instance he had written to the pope about reforms in the papal states, urging the Holy Father to curb the abuses of the clergy and to introduce modern methods in the government of his territory. But he was compelled to apologize for presuming to give advice to the vicar of Christ. On another occasion, the emperor was foolish enough to suggest that Frenchmen must obey the laws of their own country before those of a foreign power. Did he mean Rome, by "a foreign power?" He was clearly made to understand that the Catholics in France were first the subjects of the pope, and then the subjects of the emperor. Despite these failures to free himself from the authority of the church, the signs of insubordination on the part of the emperor increased. Napoleon's principal weakness was vacillation. He never finished an undertaking. His resolutions were like fire-rockets, they fell to the ground as soon as they shot up in the air. Vacillation means weakness. Napoleon after all was like clay in the hands of the pope. The pope had made him, and the pope could unmake him. To be just to the emperor, we must also make allowances for the influence which the queen, Empress Eugenie, exerted over him. She was a Spaniard, very worldly, and yet very pious. She was one of those women to whom the priest was God in miniature.