of the case. Sometimes the town-council meets there, A village is an epitome of the world, in which a thousand little influences are at work-a thousand currents and under-currents. The same motives which are at work in London or New York, operate in the petty village of the far west. Yet-yet, should pleasures tasteless grow, The bustling world distracting be, Then dearest-dearest, fly to me. The stream, endeared by childhood's joy, There are many important events in a village-the arrival of the stage-coach and opening of the mail-a court or a muster-a camp-meeting, or the examination of a female seminary, which last, always attracts great attention. Crowded room; young ladies in white and blue-on the walls, theorem paintings, birds and flowers, and bead-work purses, reticules and pincushions-OF A TRIP TO THE MOUNTAINS, CAVES AND SPRINGS music on the piano; and it is a right pleasant sight to see so many young ladies together with bright and happy faces. These are the future mothers of the land, and they are now laying up treasures of knowledge, which shall survive, when the roses that now bloom upon their cheeks shall have faded away. I cannot look upon such a group of interesting young people, without longing to be acquainted with them, and their homes, and families; to hear from themselves their little historieswhat incidents may have checkered the current of their lives, and all the hopes, and troubles, and joys that have fluttered their young hearts; and with Shenstone, I sigh to think how many charming people, and happy families, and smiling faces, there are in the world that I shall never see. JOURNAL OF VIRGINIA. By a New-Englander. TO CHARLES E. SHERMAN, Esq., of Mobile, Ala. These fragments of a Diary, kept during a tour made în his society, are respectfully and affectionately inscribed, by his friend and fellow-traveller, THE AUTHOR. CHAPTER VI The Salt Sulphur Springs. Organ Cave. Red Sulphur Springs. White Sulphur Springs, August 3, 1835. When I set out from New England, all the Sulphur Springs of Virginia were my objects of travel. But my delay at the Warm Springs, the delightsomeness of Colonel Fry's situation, and the luxuriousness of his cuisine,-the propinquity of the mountain, and the delicious fascination of the baths, all combined to postpone my journey hither for many days;-and on arriving here, so much of novelty and excitement met me at every step, that I soon began to find the season too rapidly passing away to enable me to put my original design into execution. Therefore is it that, deferring to another season the enjoyment of a pleasure, all hope of which I cannot bring myself to abandon, I take advantage of some oral accounts of friends who have recently visited the Springs situated westward of these, to become acquainted with the rest of the Spring region of Virginia. I learn that the road hence to the Salt Sulphur, extending about twenty-five miles westwardly, is by no means so good as that which I have already described as running from Staunton to White Sulphur. It is rough, rugged, and rocky. Yet it is not without its full share of that romantic and picturesque interest, that mark the whole tour of the traveller among these mountains. On the road you come to the "Organ Cave," which I also visited a few days ago, but without much interest. Mr. Nicklin, of Philadelphia, in his recently published "Letters by Peregrine Prolix," has made the most of this locality, and certainly the "Organ Cave" is a curiosity, and well worth visiting, by the lovers of caves. For my own part, I prefer nature in her brighter phases. My friend tells me that I should admire the approach | last year (1837) are made, as an offset to the account to Salt Sulphur equally with that to these Springs. of H. with a great deal of pleasure. Perhaps he is correct; but I had fancied it to be too far removed from the more grand and imposing mountain scenery, compared with this establishment, to strike a stranger with equal force. I look upon the position of the White Sulphur Spring, in the very centre of an immense mountain valley, as at the same time its grandest and its loveliest characteristic. "The Red Sulphur Springs are situated in Monroe county, forty-two miles southwest from the White Sulphur, thirty-nine miles from the Sweet Springs, and seventeen miles from the Salt Sulphur. We are informed that a turnpike road is now in progress between the White and Salt, and that those sections of it which, last year, were difficult and rugged, will, before the next season, be safe and level. The road from the Salt to the Red is greatly improved by several changes of location; and was indeed, during the last summer, one of the best, if not the very best, in the mountains. The traveller may now take stage at the White Sulphur after breakfast, dine at the Salt, and reach the Red early in the afternoon. The approach by the mountain road which crosses Indian creek for the last time near Neel's tavern, six and a half miles from the Red, we think the most interesting tain, you soon reach a point from which an almost bird's-eye But it was upon the subjects of the general accommodations, the delightful temperature of the climate, the walks, the rides, and the facilities for each, that my informant dwelt with the most eloquence and depth of interest. He tells me that there are not so many people there, but that those who are there can see and talk with each other under fewer discouraging circum-view of the valley bursts on your sight. The impression you stances of haste, hurry, and interruption. He told me of the ball-room, but also that there were seldom people enough there to occupy it,-of the music-room, where the piano, if opened, is not so constantly so, nor to so good purpose, as at White Sulphur. He described the cabins to me as being more uniform and handsome than those here, but still he preferred White Sulphur, though he maintained that the Salt was an excellent change. But the table-there was the rock upon which all my friend's devotedness to this spot had been well nigh suffering total shipwreck. "Such a contrast!" said he but I cut him short by assuring him that I was luckily no gourmand! and better road. Arrived on the summit of the eastern moun The waters are not so agreeable to the taste as those of the White Sulphur Springs,—and are more purgative in their effects: although upon an analysis, it has been discovered that the two waters are very similar in their composition. Pursuing the same romantic track which leads from this to the Salt Sulphur, we come, in about seventeen miles travel, to the Red Sulphur. My friend arrived there, on horseback, after nightfall, and could not of course see the coup d'ail from the mountainous ridge that overlooks the valley in which the Springs are situated. This is spoken of by frequent visiters to that neighborhood as being very imposing. receive is magical, and as your carriage moves rapidly down the hill, and you catch ever-varying glimpses of the landscape, you are gradually prepared for the tasteful improvements that await you on entering. After travelling through a country which abounds in magnificent natural scenery, but with rare marks of cultivation, and none whatever of taste, such a scene cannot fail to inspire agreeable sensations. The road is so conducted, as to bring in view the whole establishment before you reach the hotel: you wind round a lovely hill, having a terrace the slope; and on its summit a platform raised to the branches of promenade, immediately over the road; several rustic seats on a spreading oak, on which, in the evening, a fine band of music delights the listening visiters: on your right, the centre lawn, intersected by convenient and judiciously planned walks, and overshadowed by numerous majestic sugar maples; the rich, green sward forming a lovely contrast with the snow-white buildings and enclosure. "The table is abundantly supplied with every luxury and com. fort, and the wants of the sick are peculiarly attended to. "The Red Sulphur, in sulphuretted hydrogen, approaches nearer to the Harrowgate water than any other spring known; and in purity, it equals that of Tunbridge wells. "We shall now take a cursory notice of the diseases in which we have known it to be successful, and shall begin with consumption, for which it is most celebrated. "We do assert that if there be a ray of hope, it is at the Red Sulphur Springs; and we say farther, that if it fails, no other remedy will succeed. The arrangements of the accommodations for guests simple disease, it never fails to cure. "Neuralgic cases have also been relieved when all other reme. dies had failed. Scrofula, of most marked and severe character, has yielded to its influence; and the most rapid amendment of the general health succeeded. Diseased liver and jaundice will amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea, and prolapsus, have been relieved. it is invaluable. In removing the constitutional effects of gon. orrhea, syphilis, and the free use of mercury, it has always succeeded. In gravel it affords great and speedy relief. Dropsy has been known to be relieved, and, in some instances cured, In diseases of the skin, and in expelling worms, it has been The first we have never known to fail. In chronic rheumatism celebrated from its discovery." I have since discovered, however, that my friend's Gray Sulphur. This youngest of the numerous famipartiality for the White Sulphur Springs had consi-y of watering places that have for many years past derably warped his judgment as to the fine establish- mountains, lies about ten miles further on, and is, I bebeen springing up, a lovely progeny, among these ment of Mr. Burke at Red Sulphur. The following lieve, in the county of Monroe. It is, like the other extracts from an article in this Magazine, published Springs, the property of an enterprising individual, a The major-domo of the Row. citizen of the South, who has discovered that two Springs upon his estate possess valuable medicinal VOL. IV.-49 qualities, the one for dyspeptic cases, the other being an excellent diuretic. These waters are principally visited by South Carolinians and Georgians, either their fame not being sufficiently extended, or their properties being of too limited utility, as yet to render them places of very general resort. The buildings and accommodations are admirably arranged with a view to the comfort of visiters; and the Gray Sulphur may thus, even now, challenge comparison, in many important particulars, with her older and more celebrated sisters. So much for Salt, Red, and Gray Sulphur Springs. Return we once again, not unwillingly, to the lovely shades and delicious waters of the White. eye of the world, and which renders it a disgraceful and ignominious act to play at them openly, and in the face of day. The proprietor of these Springs is wealthy,and abundantly able to dispense with such accessories in the accumulation of property, he can well afford to wipe out this, the only material stain upon the otherwise enviable reputation of his establishment. What to him are the few thousands that he receives from the tenants of that part of his estate, which, if not thus occupied, could be devoted to the wants of many who are now turned away, while vainly endeavoring to gain ac cess to the means of regaining lost health, and of sharing in the innocent enjoyments of the society with which this place abounds? This is a custom that has grown up, and become indurated by long indulgence, and I sincerely hope that with increasing patronage the White Sulphur Springs may soon break its chains, and Aug. 5, This may be considered as the grand climacteric of the season, and there are already symptoms of a speedy turn in the tide of events at White Sulphur. The sun of fashion is almost, if not quite, in its zenith, and it will | finally subdue it entirely. soon begin to go down in the firmament, its rays disappearing one by one, and ultimately setting behind the blue mountain tops that overshadow this pleasant valley, until another season shall open. Meantime the dance goes merrily on, the moon lights lovers on their evening rambles, the lute of the serenader is yet in tune, and all is gay and merry in the happy community, luxuriating among these pleasant mountain vallies, soon, too soon, alas! to separate, and perhaps forever! Upon looking over my journal, this evening, I find that I have been sketching a succession of bright pictures, and describing a life devoted by hundreds around me to pleasure; thus showing only the lightest and brightest, the gayest and most pleasing tints of the picture A season at a watering place, or a succession of watering places, is not, however, without its full proportion of that mixture, which, to the reflecting and benevolent mind of the philanthropist, tends to soften down the too gaudy colors that are apt to dazzle and deceive, into a sombre tint, upon which and through which the eye of contemplation may look without danger or deception, as the painter graduates the lenses of the Claude Lorraine glass, until, by a skilful combination of them, he has obtained the power of blending them harmoniously into one. There are several subjects connected with my present residence, upon which my pen would fain dwell, when I find my mind taking this turn of reflection; and the chief among these is that of the indulgence afforded by the tolerance, not to say the direct encouragement of gambling, as a systematized establishment, by the pro- | prietor and directors of this place. Sunday, July 10. Rev. Mr. Burnap of Baltimore being at the Springs, religious services were held in the hall, in the presence of a large and attentive audience. There was something very touching in the manner in which these services were performed, so primitive and fraught with old associations, and recollections of by-gone times, when our fathers worshipped God without any of those striking aids to devotion, which the increasing wealth, luxury, and improvements of society have established. The simple form of reading the hymns by alternate couplets, and then singing them, as with one voice, in the whole congregation,-the devout attention to the improvement of a portion of the word of God, characterising the whole assembly, though composed of adherents to different sectarian creeds, and the sermon itself, a practical illustration of that most admirable sermon, delivered by the Founder of our religion to his disciples and the multitude from the Mount,-all combined to render these religious observances more impressive than any it has been my fortune to witness for years. Where should God, the wise builder, and beneficent sustainer of the universe, be worshipped fitly, if not here,-amid the proudest monuments of his boundless power, the most touching evidences of his unceasing kindness, the loveliest associations of his ever watchful care for the health and welfare of his children? The salubrity of the climate, inviting the invalid to luxu riate in its health-giving influences,—and the fountains opened amid the vallies for the cure of disease, for the renovation of the weary, wasted form, for the strengthening of the dejected spirit,-call loudly upon the grateful heart to offer up its acknowledgments of the benefi cence of the Almighty, here, in the temple his own hands have built: a temple, to which the name of that at whose gates the apostle bade the blind to receive sight and the lame to walk, may be more appropriately given,-"Beautiful !” A considerable portion of the grounds at White Sulphur Springs are set off and appropriated to faro and billiard tables and other games, where regular professors of the low art of gambling are regularly quartered, and for the occupation of which a certain stipulated rent, and that a large one, is regularly paid. This is a blot on the otherwise fair picture that the lover of nature The loveliness of the day was in unison with the in so beautiful a spot is fond of drawing, as he contem-spirit that seemed to pervade the services at the church. plates it from all its points of view, which should not be Nature was in her most enchanting mood, and called allowed to mar its beauty and destroy its harmony. I aloud with all her thousand voices to join in the praise do not object to the moderate and proper use of many of the God whose inspiration taught them their glad games that are used by gamblers as lures to the un-chorus. It was indeed a lovely Sabbath. The gaiety wary and inexperienced. I only remonstrate against of the neighborhood ceased in deference to the religious such a use of those games as require seclusion from the spirit that seemed to pervade the whole valley,—the hum of busy intercourse was suspended, and something | abode, and reluctantly do my feet turn from its threshold. more like devotion than anything I had seen on former May you live to what you seem, even now, to have Sabbaths among the mountains, appeared to characterise the place. I believe that there is a deep-rooted natural sense of the existence and superintending providence of God implanted in every bosom,—and I do not believe that its impulses are ever entirely wanting, how much soever they may be disregarded by the thoughtless and the indifferent. This consciousness is the secret of human accountability,—and its results, its effects upon the conduct (the outward conduct, at least,) of mankind, may always be relied upon as tending to the establishment and preservation of the observances of religion. New comers to the last. The northerners are begin ning to pack up: some to make hasty visits to Salt, Red, Sweet, and Gray,—and others to reach home by the nearest routes. I have heard of some few indefatigable pleasure hunters, who think seriously of looking in on the water drinkers at Saratoga and Ballston, and the lingerers by Niagara. I caught a murmur of "commencement" a day or two since, and some legal gentry are bethinking themselves of special pleas for September and October terms. Young ladies are beginning to look sad, and young men mad, and their papas and mammas glad, at the near approach of the returning day. The invalid is sighing that he came so late, or rejoicing that he came so opportunely,—and the votary of fortune, fun and fashion, respectively, is lamenting that his glories and excitements are so soon to be over. Yet Virginia is still pouring in her myriads of fair ones and rare ones,-and the ball seems to a new comer to be as merrily kept up as ever. But the tide is just turning, and a few short weeks will witness its last ebbing wave. August 12. For myself, I have for the last ten days been in the predicament of the poor wight commemorated in that old verse, quoted by Walter Scott, and for aught I know the production of his own muse, who "Now fitted the halter, Now traversed the cart, And often took leave, Though loth to depart." hardly begun to anticipate, a green old age: and may your children possess themselves in the patrimony that shall descend to them, at some future day, in the same unpretending and praiseworthy manner, that has characterised the career of their father. Good bye, Davie, and Duncan, and Bob, ministers to the creature-comforts of the denizens of White Sulphur! May your gains for the season prove adequate to your respective merits, for what were such an establishment without such aid as yours? Adieu, one and all, and " may your shadows never be less!" My travelling companions are member of Congress from Maryland, a gentleman from Alabama, with whom I have formed quite an agreeable acquaintance, and a half dozen Virginians. We shall reach the Thermal waters tomorrow, and my friend and myself will pass some days there, to finish off our experiments upon the healthful qualities of the Virginia Springs. THE VICISSITUDES OF LIFE, As portrayed in a Sketch. BY A LADY. "What is the tale that I would tell? Not one L. E. L. "Le monde est rompli de beaucoup de traverses." Moliere. Ida V― was the breathing portraiture of all that poet has sung, or painter embodied. At the time I first knew her, scarce fifteen summers had shed their radiance over her opening loveliness; she was, as it were, on the vestibule of womanhood, “beautiful as a sculptor's dream," with a joyousness rarely varying, bursting like a fountain from its recesses, gleaming like a sunbeam over every object that came within its influence, and touching all things with its own golden and gorgeous hues. I have gazed on her with that inten But every thing must have an end, and a fortnight at sity of admiration, which "outstrips our faint expresWhite Sulphur, as well as every thing else. So good-sion," and never have I turned from the contemplation of bye, pleasant walks and shades, delightful drives, happy her brightness of beauty without an involuntary sigh, crowd of friends, blue hills, green forests, and deep val- a sickness of soul, lest a templė so glorious might be lies. Farewell Hygeia! May you for years continue to scathed by the rude blasts of adversity, crushed beneath administer health and happiness to the myriads that the avalanche of "life's dark gift." I have sometimes cluster annually around your delicious fountain. Adieu, hoped, that unlike all that is most fair and bright, she most gallant master of the festivities at White Sulphur! would know no sorrow; that time, with its accompa Well have you earned the wreath of fame that this sea-nying mutations, would bring unchanging bliss and son will add to those already won, and which even yet verdantly grace your smiling brow. It has been yours to take the loveliest and the fairest of the daughters of Columbia by the hand, and to bid them welcome to the enjoyments of this happy valley. May you return to your home in contentment, and continue as heretofore to renew your youth for future harvests in the field of gallantry. Good Colonel, fare you well! And mine host of the fountain, patriarch of the Sulphur valley, adieu! Pleasantly have I sojourned in your delightful gladness to her, that "like the long sunny lapse of a summer day's light," existence would never be shadowed to her; but close as gloriously and auspiciously as it had dawned. Idolized by all who knew her, followed by the lingering gaze of admiration, caressed by her friends, it would have been strange had Ida V-dreamed life's book held, amid its pure leaves, one gift of darkness; the phantoms of sorrow had never invaded the beautiful scenes the world held out to her. Her feelings, though deeply tinctured with gladness, were, however, not the echo of fortune's waywardness murmured within without that usual accompaniment of a gifted mind- the tottering walls of its decaying palaces. Six months keen sensibility. She was morbidly alive to neglect had fled, and I hailed a letter from Ida, which told me from those she loved, and I have seen the tear bright- herself and her father were domesticated in the interestening the lustre of her soft dark eye, laving the blooming family of an Englishman, who was residing in an and gloss of her young pure cheek, as her heart whispered the suspicion of alienation on the part of those to whose affection she clung; but it was only momentary. The cloud passed off to make succeeding sunshine more sparkling, and she was again wreathed in smiles-the personification of "youth and hope and joy." elegant and picturesque villa near Naples. She dwelt with rapture on their new friends, and from the spirit of her letter I learned the lady of the mansion, Mrs. Clifford, was a genuine and practical christian, whose piety threw its halo round their circle, gleaned from every passing incident subject for gratitude to an Almighty Being, and the brightness of whose faith shone with unflickering lustre amid the mists of Romish superstition which environed her. To one whose susceptibility was extreme, who inhaled, as it were, the sentiments and principles of those whom she loved, and with whom she associated, this blessed example was not without its influences. Thoughtfulness perceptibly imbued the tone of Ida's communications, and usurped gradually the place of that light-heartedness and sportive gaiety, which had so characterised them. I was not therefore surprised to hear, before a year had passed, that she had renounced the "gilded hollowness" of the world's pleasures, for the hope of imperishable and eternal joys. The term of their residence in Italy, though considerably prolonged after this event, was now drawing to a close. Mr. V— found himself so renovated in health, he bethought him of returning to America, which, though but the land of his adoption, was loved by him far better than the sunny clime which had smiled alike on his hap Mr. V, who had emigrated to America shortly subsequent to Ida's birth, was an European, and it was beneath the starry skies of Italy, encompassed by all that is most beautiful and seductive in nature, that Ida V— first awoke to wayward life. Her mother had closed her eyes in death almost immediately after giving birth to her only child, and the feeble wail of her infant voice stilled the bursting anguish of her father's grief, as it reminded him that although the ruthless spoiler had invaded his hearth, it had not borne thence all his "household gods." Time, whose obliviating tide effaces the memory of the keenest grief, was not without its balm to the lacerated feelings of Mr. V; and before the smiles and caresses of his infant daughter, whose features wore the impress of its mother's loveliness, the first agony of sorrow melted. He blessed heaven that he was not desolate, and the "lightly-fibred sprays" of his affection clung to the unconscious babe, with a tenacity the greater that he had nought else to love. As I have before said, he fixed his residence in America, in a retired and beauti-piness and misfortunes. It was early in April that I reful spot, which he took pleasure in ornamenting with classic elegance. Beneath the watchful care of her doating father, Ida sprang to womanhood, adorned with all the graces of her sex, gifted with a rare beauty, and her mind enriched with all those charms of literature, which, like the "glittering glory" of the fabled talisman, dazzled, but not to deceive. Though deprived of the gentle and elevating influences of a mother's love, a mother's care, she was as femininely soft and refined, as shrinkingly timid, as though she had been nurtured beneath its beams. Her whole soul seemed concentrated in her father, and there was a beautiful and touching blending of confiding devotion, playful tenderness and worshipping deference, in her deportment towards him, none predominating, but mingling in harmonious concord. Amid the shades and retirement of her own home, commenced the intimacy of that friendship between us, which after years so strongly cemented; but the imperative demands of duty soon called me from the enjoyment of personal communion, and with a tearful eye and sad heart, I tore myself from the parting embrace of Ida. ceived from Ida intelligence of their intended embarka tion for the United States, naming the probable time of their arrival, and conjuring me to meet them at their own home. It is not to be supposed I was deaf to these solicitations, and at the appointed time I found myself near Mr. V's residence. May-gladsome, laughing May-" the bride of the summer, and child of the spring," with her fairy gifts of sunshine and flowers, had shaken her sparkling wreath over the smiling landscape, and every object had waked into life beneath the touch of her golden wand. I had scarce time to cast a glance towards these bursting beauties, for the carriage was bearing me rapidly to the house. On the portico! beheld Ida waiting to embrace me; a moment more and I was encircled in her arms-from her I turned to greet her father, who, with paternal fondness, drew me to his bosom, and imprinted a kiss upon my brow. Oh, ye hours of happiness! ye days of youthful joy! ye are sunk into the ashes of the past! ye are shrouded beneath its dark pall-hidden within its hollow channels, but your fragrance has not departed with your freshness "Summer's breath, or spring, Time passed on, bearing many changes. The health of Mr. V- became precarious, and he was induced to remove for a time to Italy. During their sojourn there, which was prolonged to nearly two years, I oft conspire to unseal the fount of memory, whose heard often from Ida; she seemed, with the enthusiasm waters come gushing forth like rich music bursting into inseparable from her temperament, to have burst upon a requiem for that fate which consigns the brightest to a new existence in this land of poetry and romance, earliest decay. where every object glows with beauty beneath a sky always bathed in light, where the whisper of past grandeur is borne on its balmy breezes; the tale of departed glory written on its crumbling monuments of empire; After the first salutations were over, I followed my friend to the saloon, where my attention was immediately arrested by a pale, romantic looking girl, who was seated in a recess of the apartment, seemingly ab |