he
clergy and others protested they received no relief when tobacco was in
oversupply and the price was low. More importantly, they had a contract
which had been enacted into law and approved by the king. No assembly
could repeal a law approved by the king without his approval. In 1753
and 1755 the issue faded away.

Then in 1758 the assembly passed another Two-Penny Act, applying
throughout the colony and to all officials and even to private debts.
Governor Francis Fauquier, although knowing that he could not put such
a law into effect until the king had given his approval, decided he
would do the politically expedient thing and signed the bill.

Fauquier reckoned without the tenacity of the clergy led by the Rev.
John Camm, a William and Mary college professor and parish pastor.
Camm, whom Fauquier called "a Man of Abilities but a Turbulent Man who
Delights to live in a Flame", later became President of the college,
rector of Bruton Parish Church, and a member of the council.

In 1759 he was determined to receive what he believed was his
guaranteed salary. Camm believed the law unconstitutional on two
grounds: the assembly had passed a law repealing one already approved
by the king, and Fauquier had permitted the law to go into effect
without the suspending clause period taking place. At the behest of
many Anglican clergy, Camm went to England. Presenting the parsons'
case to the Bishop of London, who in turn forwarded the case to the
Privy Council, Camm succeeded. The king declared the law
unconstitutional.

Virginians were outraged. Unlike the Pistole Fee, which touched most
directly the larger planters and the burgesses, the Parsons' Cause
enflamed the entire populace. Camm and a number of clergymen sued in
county courts for back salary. They received little satisfaction.
Several county courts went so far as to declare the Two-Penny Act legal
despite the king's disallowance.

Hanover County Court took a different tack. There the Rev. James Maury,
Jefferson's field school teacher and hard-pressed father of 11
children, sued the vestry of Fredericksville Parish for his salary. The
county court upheld his right to sue for claims and called for a jury
trial to set the damages. Ironically, one of the clergymen who would
benefit from a favorable verdict for Maury was the Rev. Patrick Henry.
Presiding over the county court on December 1, 1763, was his brother,
John Henry. Defending the parish vestry was his nephew a