Note 49 — III. Governor Willem Adriaan van der Stel. A History of the Successful Struggle of a few Hollanders and Huguenots against Tyranny and Corruption.

It was only natural that the Huguenot refugees should be warmly attached to their native country, and long to be able to return to it. It was noticed in England as well as in Holland and Prussia that the French exiles had no hesitation in declaring that if Louis XIV would only restore the edict of Henri IV and pledge himself to observe it faithfully, they would return to the land of their birth and be his most faithful subjects. It was believed that they would not return and profess adherence to the state church while in their hearts remaining Calvinists and secretly practising the Calvinistic form of worship, as many of those who remained behind were doing, but the governments of the countries in which they had taken refuge were at this time suspicious of their attachment under all circumstances. In South Africa the Dutch section of the population—or at least some of them—believed that the Huguenots would not assist to repel a French invasion. It was only when the children born in the lands of refuge grew up that the strong attachment of the Huguenots to France died out.