The subjugation of the country, however, had not yet been thoroughly accomplished. Though 1537 was comparatively quiet, the following year witnessed a fresh outbreak. Taking advantage of the precarious condition of England’s foreign affairs at the time, young Gerald, brother of the late Earl of Kildare, and heir to his power, stirred up various chieftains, and baffled all the attempts of the Deputy to lure him into the King’s hands. Letters for aid were written to the Pope and to Cardinal Pole, and were sent by a certain monk, as the safest means of transmitting them to their destination[349]. The monk sailed from Scotland in a French ship, which was blown ashore on the English coast at South Shields; the messenger was captured, and the letter intercepted[350]. In September, 1539, there were several skirmishes between the various forces of the rebels and the Deputy; but the latter was generally victorious, and another crisis was tided over[351]. Young Gerald was forced to flee into Brittany, and the rebels were left without a leader. The Deputy, Lord Grey, appears to have become very unpopular during his term of service, however, and in the spring of 1540 he was recalled[352], on the accusations of violence to the King’s Council, extortion, injustice, and maintaining the King’s enemies. Affairs were in a bad state after he left; Scotch intrigues, even an invasion of the country by James, were rumoured[353], and Sir William Brereton, who temporarily filled Grey’s place, had a very hard time. Grey was finally condemned and executed a year after Cromwell’s fall, and Sir Anthony St. Leger, ‘the discreet,’ who had been the Chief of Commissioners of 1537, was sent over as Deputy in 1541[354]. It may be said that from 1534 until his fall, Cromwell was the virtual ruler of Ireland. His significant triumph over Norfolk and his policy of pacification, mark the beginning of his influence. From that time onward the King left to him the entire direction of Irish affairs; he appointed the officers, regulated the revenues, and in short managed everything connected with the country until 1540. From the instructions which the Commissioners received in 1537, we gather that the main object of the Crown was to get a revenue from Ireland, and the plan which Cromwell pursued in order to attain this end is noteworthy, in that it differed so entirely from his policy in all the rest of England’s dependencies. Realizing that the country was worse than useless to the King, while it remained in the state in which it was when he came into power, he saw that it was so wild and disorganized, that subjugation by force would be possible and profitable, if attempted vigorously, and in time. He therefore pursued a most aggressive policy, which in Scotland, for instance, where the conditions were so different, he would never have dared to adopt.