James Blair served as a member and for a time, president of the Governor's Council in Virginia. As representative of the Bishop of London (of Oxford until 1675), Henry Compton, Blair held great power and responsibility in Virginia. The separation of church and state became a fundamental political concept in Virginia only after the American Revolution. In response to complaints about dissolute clergy in the colonies, Compton had instructed Lieutenant Governor Herbert Jeffreys to investigate the situation, and then had suspended or removed those found problematic, as well as instituted a procedure to issue certificates attesting to a clergyman's orthodoxy and character and urged colonial governors not to hire those lacking such certificates. The other initial problem Blair faced was that in 1697, only half of organised parishes had ministers. Six years later, with Compton's assistance nearly 80% of the approximately 50 parishes had clergy, although then additional parishes were chartered. Other efforts proved less successful. For instance, he managed to increase clergy stipends to 16,000 pounds of tobacco annually, amounting to a value of about 60 pounds sterling rather than the 80 he desired. Also, to his dismay, the colony's lay leaders refused to introduce ecclesiastical courts for moral offenses. Nonetheless, Blair worked to improve the moral condition of the people while he also defended them against the tyranny of the royal governors. He had great influence in England, and reportedly was involved with the recall to England of one royal governor, Edmund Andros, and two Lieutenant Governors who were serving in the absence of the Royal Governor: Francis Nicholson and Alexander Spotswood.