Improved discipline worked smoothly till 1718, when it came into collision with the Earl's civil authorities, owing in part to the reduction of revenue through Wilson's practice of mitigating fines in the spiritual court. Robert Mawdesley, governor from 1703, had been in harmony with Wilson; his successor in 1713, Alexander Horne, became Wilson's determined opponent. The substantive points at issue appear to be whether appeals in ecclesiastical cases should be made to ecclesiastical authorities or to the civil authority of the Lord of Mann; and, later, whether or not soldiers of the Lord of Mann should fall under ecclesiastical rule. The first direct conflict began in 1716. Mary Henricks, a married woman, was excommunicated for adultery, and condemned to penance and prison. She appealed to the lord of the isle, and Horne allowed the appeal. Wilson, rightly maintaining that there was no appeal except to the Archbishop of York, did not appear at the hearing, and was fined £10; the fine was remitted. The episcopal registrar, John Woods of Kirk Malew, was twice imprisoned (1720 and 1721) for refusing to act without the bishop's direction. In 1721, the governor's wife, Jane Horne, was ordered to ask forgiveness (in mitigation of penance) for slanderous statements. For admitting her to communion and for false doctrine Archdeacon Robert Horrobin, the governor's chaplain, was suspended in 1722. Refusing to recall the sentence, Wilson was fined £60, and his vicars-general £20 apiece, and in default were imprisoned in Castle Rushen. Wilson appealed to the Crown; they were released, but the fines were paid through Thomas Corlett. The dampness of the prison had so affected Wilson's right hand that he was henceforth unable to move his fingers to write. In 1724 the bishopric of Exeter was offered to Wilson as a means of reimbursement. He refused, reputedly saying to Queen Caroline, ""I will not forsake my wife and children because they are poor"". On his declining, George I promised to meet his expenses from the privy purse, a pledge which the king's death left unfulfilled.