White Sulphur papers; or, Life at the springs of Western Virginia

42 WHITE SULPHUR PAPERS.
jority of southern people who attend them, and the
natural propensity
of independent persons who remain
together any length of time to be sociable.
In the course of a few years, the
tide of travel and
fashion will flow this way, and it is to be hoped
that neither parvenu pride nor unnecessary etiquette
will destroy the social beauties of the old regime.
Not that there is much fear of it
at present.
This is the hour for drives and excursions.
You
meet carriages and — (when is a carriage not a carriage?
why, when it 's a wagon, to be sure, says
some one at my elbow;—vehicles of all descriptions,
returning from pic nics—and going out with
those desirous to meet the evening stages, to welcome
friends in advance, and to kiss hands to some
lady passenger they may know in passing, and
bring home wild flowers.
You never thoroughly understand the pliilosophy
of the word pic nic, until you come here. Ask a lady
who has spent a summer at the White Sulphur to tell
you. We had something of the kind a few^ days since
at the Greenbriar, about five miles from the springs,
but there were no ladies present—it was altogother
a gentleman's affair. It originated with tlie delegate
from Florida, and some others, who invited
the company to the number of nearly a hundred,
among whom were the President, the Secretary of