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. "b 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 naturalized; relieved them at the moment from importation duties and passport fees, and encouraged voluntary contributions for their support. "e 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/