Protestantism in France From Death of Henry IV to the Revolution - James Aitken Wylie

the exodus continued, which was not less than from
fifteen to twenty years, it is impossible to resist the
conclusion that the emigration was on a scale of
gigantic magnitude. Of the one million Protestants
and upwards scattered among the twenty millions
of Frenchmen, it is probable that from a quarter to
half a million emigrated. Jurieu estimates that in
1687, 200,000 persons had already left France.
Antoine Court, one of the preachers of the
desert, makes the total 800,000 persons. Sismondi
says from 300,000 to 400,000. In a celebrated
memorial addressed to Louvois in 1688, Vauban
says "that France had lost 100,000 inhabitants,
60,000,000 of francs in specie, 9,000 sailors,
12,000 veterans, 600 officers, and her most
flourishing manufactures. The Duke de Saint
Sinton says in his Memoirs that all branches of
trade were ruined, and that a quarter of the
kingdom was perceptibly depopulated."[6]
The face of France was changed in a day. Its
framework was suddenly and violently shaken and
loosened, as if an earthquake had rocked the land.
95