But there were those to whom Henrietta's act must have seemed, if they were aware of it, almost an act of desertion. The Catholics, to whom her love and honour were pledged, dreaded, and with good cause, nothing so much as a Parliament. Already their condition was deplorable. They suffered not only from the hatred of the Puritans, but from the terror of the Protestants, who attempted to propitiate the people by persecution of the common enemy. Several priests were thrown into prison, and even the courtier Sir Tobie Matthew, who, though he posed as a layman, was generally believed to be in holy orders,[232] was arrested on suspicion. The houses of Catholics were searched, and on one occasion three cart-loads of Catholic books were publicly burned. "Nevertheless," wrote Montreuil, the French agent in London, with an acumen revealed by the event, "it is thought that all the advantage which the Archbishop will get from this is to set the Catholics against him without improving his position with the Puritans."[233] In October Charles returned to London, leaving the Scotch army still in the land, and with a pledge that its expenses should be paid. On November 3rd he opened at Westminster that historic assembly which is known as the Long Parliament. [Footnote 202: Mme de Motteville records how Henrietta told her that Charles brought the new Scotch liturgy to her, asking her to read it, that she might see how similar were their religious beliefs.] [Footnote 203: Among the archives of the Ministère des Affaires Etrangères is a document dated 1629 enumerating the reasons why it was desirable to have an agent in Scotland; one reason given is "to keep the Scotch nobility in their devotion towards the cause of France."--Aff. Etran. Ang., t. 43. The great importance the French attached to preserving the good-will of the Scotch is apparent in the French diplomatic literature concerning the Civil War.] [Footnote 204: "L'année ne se passera pas que le roi et la reine d'Angleterre ne se repentent d'avoir refusé les offres que vous leur aves faites de la part du roy."--Richelieu to Estrades, December, 1637. Estrades: _Ambassades et Negotiations_ (1718), p. 13.] [Footnote 205: Digby to Montagu, March 5th, 1638. Aff. Etran. Ang., t. 47.] [Footnote 206: _Ibid._, March 19th, 1638.] [Footnote 207: Montagu to Chavigny, February 14th, 1638. Aff. Etran. Ang., t. 4.] [Footnote 208: The Duke of Chevreuse had been made a Knight of the Garter at the time of the marriage of Charles and Henrietta.] [Footnote 209: Avenel: _Lettres de Richelieu_, VI, p. 122.] [Footnote 210: _Histoire de l'entrée de la reyne mere du roy très-chrestien dans la Grande Bretaigne._ Par le S^r de la Serre, Historiographe de France (1639).] [Footnote 211: Montagu to Digby, June, 1638. Aff. Etran. Ang., t. 47.] [Footnote 212: Con gives the details, Add. MS., 15,391: Salvetti (Add. MS., 27,962) says that the King asked for the money, but did not formally authorize the contribution.]