594 HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF WESTCHESTER. 



leys, and sent to the French provinces in America. One of their own 

 ministers, Jurieu, informs us that a friend of his saw a great number of 

 men, at Aries, fastened to the horses, underneath, by means of cords, 

 followed by long carts filled with men and women, tied by their waists 

 to the carts ! and these were carried to Marseilles, to be shipped to 

 America ; others again were sent to the islands of this country in the 

 king's ships, to be sold, like slaves, to those who would give most for 

 them.<* Wearied with the incessant persecution, and despairing of re- 

 pose around their native hearths, the Huguenots began to leave France 

 for more secure regions. Their well-known industry and skill made 

 them welcome in every Protestant country. No less than five hundred 

 thousand thus escaped, and found homes in Germany, Holland, and 

 England." 3 King Charles II. granted letters of denization in council, 

 under the great seal, and assured the exiles that, at the next meeting of 

 Parliament, he would introduce a bill by which they should be natural- 

 ized; relieved them at the moment from importation duties and pass- 

 port fees, and encouraged voluntary contributions for their support."^ 

 This order was issued on the 28th of July, 1681, the same year in which 

 many of the Huguenots of New Rochelle fled from France,^ conclusive 

 evidence that they constituted a part of those exiles who accepted the 

 royal offers, and afterward, under the patronage of the government, 

 purchased and settled here in 1689. Some of the Huguenots must have 

 been " aided in their escape from France by the English vessels that lay 

 for some time off the Island of Rhe, opposite La Rochelle, in which 

 they were conveyed to England."* Tradition says that many of them 

 were subsequently transported to this place in one of the king's ships. 

 The point on Davenport's Neck called Bauffet's or Bonnefoy's Point, 

 was the spot where they first landed. Others who afterwards joined 

 them — viz., Theroulde, Allaire, Le Vilain, Machet, Bongrand, Thauver, 

 Mercier, Mastier and Jouneau, &c, had been in New York a year or 

 more previous to their settlement at New Rochelle. 



Upon the 17th of April, 1695, we find letters of denization granted 

 to Francis Le Count, under oaths appointed to be taken/ 



On the 6th of February, 1695-6, letters of denization were issued 

 under the seal of the province, " to David de Bonrepos, Alexander 

 Allaire, Hemy Beignon, Esaye Valleau, Andrew Thaunet, David Bonne- 



a Jurieu's Pastoral Letters. 



b Christian Intelligencer ; Mr. Disosway's Sketch of the Huguenots. 



c Smedley's Hist, of the Reformed Religion, ill. 217. 



d See Charter of Trinity church in this town. 



e So rapid and instantaneous appears to have been their flight, that one family in particu- 

 lar (the Guions) "left their pot boiling on the lire." An earthen jug, rescued on this occa- 

 sion, was in the possession of the late Mrs. Julia Lawton, daughter of Frederick Guion. 



/Alb. Book of Pat. vi. 527. 



