_Pic-nic_ (Vol. vi., pp. 152. 518.).--The Query of A. F. S. (p. 152.) as to
the etymology of _pic-nic_ still remains unanswered. The Note of W. W. (p.
518.) merely refers to the time (1802) when pic-nic suppers first became
fashionable in England. Under a French form, the word appears in a speech
of Robespierre's, quoted in the _British and Foreign Review_ for July,
1844, p. 620.: "C'est ici qu'il doit m'accuser, et non dans les
_piques-niques_, dans les sociétés particulières." An earlier instance
occurs in one of Lord Chesterfield's letters (No. 167.), dated October
1748.