After many difficulties that more than
once threatened to put an end to further negotiations, a settlement was
at length reached (July 6th). The final arrangement signally proved how
hopeless the Guises were of their immediate prospects in Scotland. Mary
and Francis were to desist from using the arms of England; no Frenchman
was henceforth to hold any important office in Scotland; the
fortifications of Leith were to be demolished; and the French soldiers,
with the exception of one hundred twenty, were at once to be sent home
in their own country. Till the return of Mary the government was to be
intrusted to twelve persons, of whom she was to appoint seven and the
estates five. In the treaty no arrangement was made regarding religion;
but, with the powers now placed at their disposal, there could be little
doubt how the Protestant leaders would interpret the omission. Thus had
Elizabeth and the Congregation gained every point for which they had
striven; and their victory may be said to have determined the future,
not only of Britain, but of Protestantism. So far as Scotland is
concerned, the treaty of Edinburgh marks the central point of her
history.
It now remained to be seen to what uses the Protestant party would put
their victory. The simultaneous departure of the French and English
troops relieved them from all restraint; and four days later the great
deliverance was signalized by a solemn thanksgiving in the Church of St.
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