The Mayor of Marignane had been rather cold towards the Missionaries on their arrival. Yet he warmed to the mission as it progressed, and Eugene was able to note as the end of the mission approached:
While we are on the subject of the Mayor, we may remark that he has not missed a single one of the evening instructions, and that he is extremely courteous and helpful towards the missionaries, whom he has referred to as the ambassadors of Jesus Christ, in an ordinance he issued with the purpose of having the bars closed on the Sunday when the planting of the cross will take place.”
Diary of the Marignane Mission, 14 December 1816, O.W. XVI
One hopes that this change of heart of the Mayor was really a conversion and not just a point of self-interest, as the following extract from the Diary suggests:
After dinner, invitation from the Mayor to go and see the preparations being made to clear, fill in, and sand the place where the cross is to be planted. It is a quite a sight, thirty wagons and two hundred people were engaged in this work. The Mayor, at the head of the workers, is engaged in an activity that would be edifying, if that spot had not been previously designated by him to become the prettiest avenue in the village. The eventuality of the planting of the cross aroused his zeal, which coincided with his intentions, and this has contributed in no small measure to the speeding up of the work. It is moreover at his request that the cross will be planted at the edge of this place which he wants to make a pretty avenue.
Diary of the Marignane Mission, 14 December 1816, O.W. XVI