James Edwin Thorold Rogers

“ Perfidy may not only make its victims cautious, it may make them equally' perfidious. At any rate, the man who secures agents by hire for evil ends, need not be surprised if his agents betray him, and he loses both money and reputation. No political system, which has been founded on lying, is discovered to be stable in the end. The ambitious schemes of Philip, and the arts he employed to effect them, were the ruin of Spain. For a long time she was the terror of the nations. Even when Holland pricked the bubble she still seemed formidable. ”

“ When the wisest man in Holland had been murdered, and the greatest general of the age was in the prime of his activity and skill, Philip ought to have had no difficulty in overcoming the resistance of the Netherlands. ”

“ Men who wanted favours done, or losses averted, went with cash in their hands to those who were sworn to execute Justice between parties.
Of course the greater part of Philip's bribes were wasted. He did not get value received for what he spent. In the nature of things, it was not possible always to carry out a timely treason. There must be opportunities, there must be agents. The opportunity may not come, and a rash attempt, foredoomed to failure, would be worse than any delay, however long and costly. The agents too must be carefully selected. ”