But still, bribed though the Council was and however submissive the Queen, the state of feeling in England was such as to make a declaration of war against France a dangerous matter. A series of bad harvests, the depreciation of the coinage, and the enclosure of the commons and parks had reduced the country to a condition of the utmost misery. Money was extremely scarce, and the idea of squandering large sums upon a foreign war drove the distracted Council to despair, though Philip in the course of many conferences with them urged it incessantly. The Councillors admitted that, in accordance with the old treaty of 1543 between the Emperor and Henry VIII.,[112] England might be called upon to provide an armed contingent if Flanders were attacked by France: but Philip wanted more than that, and to some extent he was successful, notwithstanding that Archbishop Heath tearfully protested that the country was quite unable to meet the necessary expenditure. It was at last arranged that eight thousand English infantry should be raised for service and one thousand cavalry, three thousand of the former to reinforce the English fortresses in France, and the rest to be at Philip’s service for four months, under the command of Lord Pembroke, Sir Thomas Cheyne, Lord Bedford, and Lord Grey de Wilton, one-half the cost only to be borne by England. But there was also a promise on the part of the Council to fit out and man with six thousand soldiers the English fleet to hold the Channel against the French. Upon one point the Council was firm: these forces were simple auxiliaries contributed in accordance with the old treaty, and must not entail a national war between England and France.