Ir is satisfactory to notice that the move in favour of a local Literary Institute that we advocated in these columns " few mouths back has at last been set on foot. There is no doubt that, if there be any element of perma-nonce in the present undertaking—as we hope and believe will prove the case—a lack that has'been greatly felt will be supplied. Hitherto there haa been no legitimate outlet for the i tellectual tastes and instincts which happily characterise so considerable a portion of the community, and we have experienced the want of that incentive to mental culture which is likely to be furnished by the meetings of the newly. formed Society. No daily paper offers a fitting vehicle for the expression of ideas purely intellectual. An essay on any of the more interesting topics of the day, in the widest sense of that term, or on some point of literary interest of whatever nature, would be out of place in any journal devoted primarily if not exclusively to the con sideration of local politics, commerce, and matters of a more ephemeral nature, Shanghai has no monthly magazino or periodical review, which might offer a channel for the discussion of such subjects as are engaging the attention of thoughtful people at home. Nor does the invitation to read a paper before the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society meet the difficulty that so many people feel. The réanions of that excellent association are not, generally-speaking, of a very lively character, and the subjects treated are in nine cases out of ten uninteresting to the general public, A man must have devoted his time' to some speciality, in which he has become more or less an expert, before he can write a paper suitable for presentation before the Royal Asiatic Society. He must be a botanist, or a miveralogist, or have undertaken some interesting journey, or made a special study of some rather onteof-the-way phase of Chinese polity or lore; and even then, the paper he has compiled is probably far too long and too learned to be read extense, and is only printed at the end of the year in a ponderous book which does not enjoy an extensive circulation among the public generally, Such an association, however, as has recently been started in our midst, will, if properly supported, go a long way towards filling the gap. Of course, on this as on nearly every question that may be submitted to the publio, it may be said with truth, Quot hommes, tot sententie. It was first suggested that the Society should be called the Young Men's Christian Association. But there was a flavour of pharisaism about this title that repelled many. It gested an idea of mingled sanctimo niousness and self-complacency which was certainly foreign to the object for which the association was organised, It was also too narrow a designation for surely a society of a literary obi ter would lose a good deal in closing its doors to any respectable and educated man who might wish to become a member, on the score that he did not belong to any particular religions sect, The ce-operation of a cultured Parsee, or Jew, or even of a dreaded free thinker, might often prove of the greatest value, and could scarcely have
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.