The Virginia Gazette

To the PRINTER.

Williamsburg, April 10, 1752.

SIR,

Please to insert in your Paper my Reasons for voting against removing the Seat of Government from Williamsburg and you will oblige, Sir,

Your humble Servant,

Edwin Conway.

I have sat in the House of Burgesses, twenty-four Sessions of Assembly; and never was I detain'd one Day, in the whole Time, from the Service of the House, by Sickness or Lameness; therefore I reckon the Air in Williamsburg as healthy as it may be in any Town in Virginia.

It is situated on high Land, between two Creeks, so commodious for supplying Provisions to accommodate all People that have Occasion to attend the Seat of Government; that no Place in the Colony, in my Opinion, can equal; it affording the Convenience of Water-Carriage from the two principal Rivers of Virginia, viz. James and York Rivers; out of which more than Half the Tobacco ever made in this Colony has been exported; it is nigher to salt Water, which is advantageous to the Stocks of Sheep and Cattle, and must be supposed to be more convenient for Lamb and Veal, than the Place proposed.

Tho' I never had much to spare, yet kind Providence always supplied me with sufficient Necessaries of Life; and for my Money. I always have had a plentiful Table at Williamsburg, when my Occasions required me to attend, which have been in more than forty Years; and when I had a Wife, my Table at home was not reckon'd inferior to any of my Neighbours.

The main Grievance to be redress'd, by the Bill now pass'd in the House of Burgesses, is to carry the Seat of Government about fifty Miles higher, by Land, to the Western Inhabitants; which imposes as great a Grievance on the Eastern Inhabitants, by obliging them to go fifty Miles further; and 'tis reasonable to Suppose the Grievance to one Man, in going fifty Miles, is as great as it is to any one of twenty Men. How then can it appear just to redress the Grievance of some People, by imposing as great a Grievance on others, who are altogether innocent?

The Act of Assembly that pass'd in the eleventh Year of the late King William, and confirm'd by another Act, in the fourth Year of Queen Anne, encouraged the People to Lay out their Money, to provide Buildings and other Conveniencies, for the Reception and Accommodation of the People that should have Occasion to attend the Seat of Government: Can it be reasonable to ruin such People, and put the Country to so great a Charge, to redress the Grievance of some People and impose a greater on others? For the People to the Eastward of Williamsburg will not only have the Addition to their Journey by Land, but the whole Country will have further by Water, except the Inhabitants on the small River of Pamunkey.

I can't think it any Advantage for the Seat of Government to be on a navigable River, as some have proposed, where Ships may ride; for they may bring epidemick Diseases to the Town. If good Accommodation can be had, the more private the Town is, the better to consult the Good of the Country, in Assembly, and determine Causes in the General Court.

Our Country is happily furnish'd with navigable Rivers and Creeks for Trade, so dispersed, that I see no Reason to imagine that one Ship more would come into this Country, on Account of the Seat of Government being removed from Williamsburg, to any other Place.