dence of Scotland upon
France. That perpetual peace between England and the Scots which the
policy of the Tudors had steadily aimed at was at last sworn in the
Treaty of Edinburgh. If the Queen had not bound to her all Scotland, she
had bound to her the strongest and most vigorous party among the nobles
of the north. The Lords of the Congregation promised to be obedient to
Elizabeth in all such matters as might not lead to the overthrow of
their country's rights or of Scottish liberties. They were bound to her
not only by the war but by the events that followed the war. A
Parliament at Edinburgh accepted the Calvinistic confession of Geneva as
the religion of Scotland, abolished the temporal jurisdiction of the
bishops, and prohibited the celebration of the Mass. The Act and the
Treaty were alike presented for confirmation to Francis and Mary. They
were roughly put aside, for the French king would give no sanction to a
successful revolt, and Mary had no mind to waive her claim to the
English throne. But from action the two sovereigns were held back by the
troubles in France. It was in vain that the Guises strove to restore
political and religious unity by an assembly of the French notables: the
notables met only to receive a demand for freedom of worship from the
Huguenots of the west, and to force the Government to promise a national
council for the settlement of the religious disputes as well as a
gathering of the States-General. The counsellors of Francis resolved to
anticipate this meeting by a sudden stroke at the heretics; and as a
preliminary step the chiefs of the House of Bourbon were seized at the
court and the Prince of Conde threatened with death. The success of this
measure roused anew the wrath of the young king at the demands of the
Scots, and at the close of 1560 Francis was again nursing plans of
vengeance on the Lords of the Congregation. But Elizabeth's good fortune
still proved true to her. The projects of the Guises were suddenly
foiled by the young king's death. The power of Mary Stuart and her
kindred came to an end, for the childhood of Charles the Ninth gave the
regency over France to the queen-mother, Catharine of Medicis, and the
policy of Catharine secured England and Scotland alike from danger of
attack. Her temper, like that of Elizabeth, was a purely political
temper; her aim was to balance Catholics against Protestants to the
profit of the throne. She needed peace abroad to preserve this po