in
America I was born and that the Assembly, then sitting at
Williamsburg, requested that I might be their God-daughter
and christened by the name of Virginia; which request being
complied with, they purposed providing for me in a manner
suitable to the honor they conferred upon me and to the
responsibility they had taken on themselves. I was
accordingly christened as the God-daughter of that Assembly
and named after the State. Events have since occurred which
in some measure may have altered the intentions then
expressed in my favor. These were (so I have understood)
that a sum of money should be settled upon me which,
accumulating during my minority, would make up the sum of
one hundred thousand pounds when I became of age. It is true
many changes may have taken place in America, but that fact
still remains the same. I am still the God-daughter of the
Virginians. By being that, may I not flatter myself I have
some claims upon their benevolence if not upon their
justice? May I not ask that State, especially you, sir,
their Governor, to fulfil in some respects the engagements
entered into by their predecessors? Your fathers promised
mine that I should become their charge. I am totally
unprovided for; for my father died without making a will. My
brothers are married, having families of their own; and not
being bound to do anything for me, they regard with
indifference my unprotected and neglected situation. Perhaps
I ought not to mention this circumstance as a proper
inducement for you to act upon; nor would I, were it not my
excuse for wishing to remind you of the claims I now
advance. I hope you will feel my right to your favor and
protection to be founded on the promises made by your own
fathers, and in the situation in which I stand with regard
to the State of Virginia. You will ask, sir, why my appeal
to your generosity and justice has been so tardy. While my
father lived, I lived under his protection and guidance. He
had incurred the displeasure of the Virginians and he feared
an application from me would have seemed like one from him.
At his decease I became a free agent. I had taken no part
which could displease my God-fathers, and myself remained
what the Assembly had made me--their God-daughter,
consequently the