The terms of the marriage treaty, which had already been settled between Gardiner and Renard, were in every way most honourable to the English nation, safeguarding the national interests in a manner far beyond all other royal marriage treaties before or since. It was stipulated, that Philip should observe strictly the rights and privileges of all classes, and that foreigners should be excluded from public offices; that he should have no claim on English ships, ammunition or treasure, that he should not involve the country in the war which he and the Emperor were carrying on against Henry II., and that as far as lay in his power, he would promote peace between England and France.[386] If there were issue of the marriage, the eldest child was to inherit Burgundy and the Low Countries, a valuable appanage to the Crown of England; and if the Queen predeceased her husband, Philip was to resign the guardianship of the child into English hands. Moreover, this child, male or female, was also, in the event of the death without issue of Don Carlos, Philip’s son by his first marriage, to inherit the kingdoms of Spain and Sicily, the Duchy of Milan, and all Philip’s other dominions. Sixty thousand pounds a year (equal to about a million of present money) was to be settled on Mary as her jointure, to be paid by Spain, if she outlived her husband. Besides this, she was to share with him equally all his titles, honours and dignities, which were to be mentioned in all official documents, after their first titles of King and Queen of England.[387] No political combination could have been more advantageous to England as a make-weight against the marriage of Mary Queen of Scots with the Dauphin. For it was not only _desirable_ that England should seek the protection of the Empire against this important coalition, but as Elizabeth had been virtually declared illegitimate by two Acts of Parliament, Mary Stuart was heir presumptive to the throne, and it was _necessary_ to raise an effectual barrier against the possibility of England becoming a mere appendage to France. Philip was to have nothing but the empty title of King, the only advantages accruing to him from the marriage being the geographical position of England, its political friendship as a counterpoise to the alliance between France and Scotland, and the hope that Mary would give birth to an heir. By the first he would secure an unmolested passage through the English Channel, for his ships sailing between Spain and the Netherlands; by the second the balance of power in Europe would be restored, and by the third he would checkmate his enemy. Further than this he would reap no benefit. England, with the exception of London, was poor, and only just recovering from the consequences of a debased currency, while the religious troubles of the last seventeen years, dating from the Pilgrimage of Grace, had made revolt and popular risings far too frequent for the prosperity of the country.