taking place back home. He collected inside information sent to him from Québec and Rome, and used it to direct and advise Hamel and Taschereau, even going so far as to compare himself to Napoleon. Amongst his informers were Hospice-Anthelme Verreau in Montreal, Calixte Marquis in Nicolet, Joseph-Sabin Raymond in Saint-Hyacinthe, and Zepherino Zitelli and [Alessandro Cardinal Franchi, from the then Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith. He invested a lot to increase his influence, and gained over that time several appointments: apostolic protonotary (1876), privy chamberlain (1877), and adviser to the Congregation of the Index (1878). He succeeded in causing the fall of Bourget's plans for a university in Montreal, and eventually managed to have Laval canonical erected (although Édouard-Charles Fabre later secured virtual independence for what would eventually become the Université de Montréal). Rome would, from that point forward support Laval. Pâquet also fought Bourget's refusal to split the Parish of Notre-Dame, and Louis-François Laflèche's opposition to the new diocese of Nicolet. In addition to these endeavours, he was also postulator for the beatification of Marie de l'Incarnation. Return to Quebec and later life Laflèche was of the opinion that "the true Catholics could not get a hearing at Rome because of Pâquet's obstructiveness, and in Quebec, Archbishop Taschereau, deceived by the same man and by the university, was helping to defeat the Catholic forces and to swell the ranks of the Freemasons and anti-religious forces." For all this Pâquet attracted universal loathing from the ultra-montanes, and many of the province's bishops requested his return in 1878, seeing him as the prime source of strife amongst the clergy. He returned, but primarily for health reasons, and was proven to be deeply ill upon his return. The vicar of Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Luc Desilets, "saw his coming death as a sign of God's mercy to the country." Pâquet took various positions at the seminary until 1887, when he was appointed superior, and thus rector of the university; that same year he was appointed a domestic prelate. During that period, his name was also suggested as bishop of the new diocese of Nicolet, but a more neutral nominee (Elphège Gravel) was eventually selected. Pâquet again returned to Rome in 1886 and 1888 to defend the university. In 1892, a year before leaving his rectory, a proposal to nominate him to the diocese of Chicoutimi was abandoned because of fierce opposition