I am well aware, my dear friend and good brother, that the prolongation of my stay at Paris demands some explanation…
There now remains one last thing for me to do: Archbishop de Bausset, named Archbishop of Aix, arrived while I was on retreat. He had written to me himself to congratulate me over the nomination of my uncle. He told me in this letter that he had written to his nephew, the Prefect of Marseilles, to congratulate him. He added that he considered my uncle as infinitely more suitable for the archbishopric of Aix than himself, etc.
I go to see him and he receives me with open arms, goes into a thousand details with me about the diocese and finishes by telling me that he proposes to make a clean sweep and name me as his Vicar General together with another person whom he indicated to me.
Eugene was even prepared to accept the position of Vicar General of Aix because it would give him the necessary authority in the Archdiocese to protect the interest of the Missionaries. This was particularly the case now that the re-establishment of the Diocese of Marseille was in the balance.
That was something to be glad about, I believe, for that was all we needed, not that I want to be a Vicar General; for me that is of little importance and would even be burdensome; but the advantage for our work was incalculable and I only envisaged it from that point of view.
Letter to Henri Tempier, 9 October 1817, O.W. VI n. 24