When Sir John Moriz, D'Arcy's deputy, called a Parliament together at Dublin to consider the state of the country and to promulgate new Edwardian ordinances, the Earl of Desmond and other leaders of the English by blood declined to attend. In their opinion Sir Jean d'Arcy and his deputy were 'needy adventurers'--a description they applied to them in a petition sent direct to Edward III. Desmond was a clever man, who openly advocated peace and secretly prepared for war. His diplomacy, however, gained a surer victory than all his legions were capable of accomplishing, for in the petition already referred to he asked politely why his Majesty did not receive larger revenues from Ireland. This caused Edward to realize some of the disadvantages of conferring the viceroyalty upon impecunious warriors, and he promptly surrendered to the petitioners, removing Moriz, and appointing Sir Raoul d'Ufford, who became viceroy in the early part of 1344. D'Ufford was wealthy enough to be trusted with {32} the government of Ireland, and Edward owed him something for his services in the French and Flemish wars. It is more than likely, however, that he was indebted for his viceroyalty to the fact that his wife was Maud Plantagenet, widow of the murdered Earl of Ulster and also of Edward's son. D'Ufford's commission authorized him to grant pardon to rebels on their swearing allegiance to the king, and, furthermore, it enjoined him to search for Irish mines of gold, silver, lead, and tin. D'Ufford's appointment evoked no enthusiasm and some fear. The English colony knew the temper of Maud Plantagenet, a proud, revengeful, and ambitious woman, and greatly as they feared D'Ufford's reputation for severity, they realized that, urged on by his wife, he might be guilty of excesses exceeding those which had won for him the fear of his enemies in France.