In December 1763, Patrick Henry distinguished himself as a young lawyer by challenging the authority of Parliament and the King in a case commonly called the "Parsons' Cause." The Church of England was the established church of Virginia, and the people were taxed for the parsons' salaries. Because coin money was scarce in the colonies, Virginia, like the other colonies, had adopted the custom of paying their clergymen in tobacco. One disadvantage of this system was the fluctuation of the value of the tobacco, based upon the law of supply and demand. Whenever there was a tobacco crop failure, the value of tobacco increased considerably. This occurred in 1758 when there was so little tobacco available that the House of Burgesses passed a law stating that all debts payable ordinarily in tobacco might be paid in money at the rate of two pence per pound of tobacco. The parsons' salary was 16,000 pounds of tobacco. When the above law was passed allowing the parsons to be paid in money, they felt that it was unfair because tobacco at that time was more valuable at the rate of six pence per pound of tobacco than the money value itself. Furthermore, the parsons had had to accept the same amount of tobacco when the prices had previously declined. King George agreed with the parsons and requested that they be given their 16,000 pounds of tobacco or else a sum of money equivalent to the amount which 16,000 pounds of tobacco would be worth. Such an order was contrary to the law passed by the House of Burgesses and was a continuation of a custom which England had been using of "disallowing" a law passed by the colonial legislature. The Burgesses refused to accept the "disallowing" of their law; in turn, the parsons, knowing that the King had favored their opinion in the matter, took their problem to the Hanover County Court as they believed they were entitled to the back pay for the time which the House of Burgesses' law was in effect. The court had ruled that the parsons were entitled to the back pay and was ready to proceed with the problem of deciding upon the amount which it believed was due each parson.