 In 1801 he wrote a letter of submission to Pope Pius VII.At the end of 1799, an assembly of Constitutional priests elected Francois Nicolas of Epinal as a successor to Lalande.Nicolas, and all the Constitutional Bishops, were required to resign in May 1801 by First Consul Bonaparte, who was negotiating a treaty with Pope Pius VII, the Concordat of 1801 (15 July 1801).