"Sir, I deny the prejudice, put it down in writing," shouted Nicholson. "I hope I have liberty to speak my opinion," replied Blair. "Who hinders you?" "I am ashamed to sit here and see people so used," retorted Blair. "Get you gone then. It had been good for the country if they had never seen your face."[13] The Governor was the legal head of the Church, though his authority was disputed after the appointment of a Commissary for the Bishop of London. And both Governor and Commissary exercised very limited powers because of the resistance of the vestries. The Governor had the right to induct ministers after they had been presented by the vestries, but in most cases they refused to do so. The Governor's power of collation to vacant parishes remained throughout the colonial period practically a dead letter. The Council of State exercised administrative, legislative, and judicial powers. Hartwell, Blair, and Chilton, in their _The Present State of Virginia_, thus describe their functions: "They are the Council of State under the Governor, who always presides; and in the vacancy of a Governor and Lieutenant Governor, the eldest of the Council is President. They are the Upper House of Assembly, answering to the House of Peers in England. They are by custom, but without commission, the supreme judges (together with the Governor who presides) in all causes ... and there lies no appeal from them but to the King in Council."[14] As the advisory body to the Governor, the Council wielded great influence. A Governor who had just taken office and was ignorant of conditions in the colony had to turn to them for information and advice. Later, when he was better informed, he still relied upon them for support in upholding the King's authority. If he were confronted with a mutiny, or an invasion by a hostile fleet, or an Indian war, or a decline in the price of tobacco, he was glad to get their views on what he should do. The members of the Council originally sat with the Burgesses during sessions of the Assembly, and did not constitute a separate house. Though this denied them an equal voice with the Burgesses, since they could always be outvoted, it permitted them to enter into debates with the Burgesses and serve on committees. It was at the suggestion of Governor Culpeper that the King, in 1680, gave orders that the Council should sit as a separate house.