Even before the Revocation the leaders of the Huguenots had to face the prospect of a great exodus from France. Employers of labour had already begun to make arrangements for the transfer of their industries to places of greater security, thus providing a livelihood for some of the humbler refugees whose manual dexterity formed their only capital. In spite of bitter temporary distress skilled artisans could hope with comparative confidence to find a home and a living abroad; but there were many refugees who knew no trade but the soldier's. The Courts of Europe were full of French officers, some of great merit, who had fled their country. Nor could the landholding classes readily adapt themselves to new conditions.
