The historian, Robert’s description of the mission cross being brought to Marseilles, at the conclusion of the 1820 mission, by Eugene in a fleet of boats from the sea adds an unusual touch to the ceremony:
We saw this magnificent procession, consisting of more than three thousand persons, and the cross was carried in triumph on an unusual carriage … But the public admiration and the delight were at their height when a new Saint Peter was heard preaching from his boat, in the Provençal language, to the fishermen and to the sailors of the port.
The simple and extremely persuasive eloquence of Father de Mazenod, leader of the Missionaries of Provence, made the most profound impression. Standing at the foot of the cross, wearing a red cope, he elaborated on the holy mysteries with the ardour and the energy which belong to the orators born under our blazing climate…. he had the happiness to hear repeated by the most resounding cheers, the shouts of long live Jesus, long live his Cross, long live the King and his family – comforting acclamations which he himself had initiated with much emotion.
ROBERT, Précis historique, p. 65-66
Eugene’s eloquence and persuasiveness when speaking about the mysteries of the Saviour had certainly more to do with his own experience of salvation than with the heat of the sun of his place of birth!
Note: This seems to be the only time documented when Eugene allowed people to shout their acclaim for the king. In the period of the Restoration, Catholicism was considered the official state religion, protected by the King and hence Eugene saw the danger of inserting loyalty to the Bourbons as a component of religion.