Last week may be said to have witness. ed the commencement of the holiday season in Shanghai. The weary months of summer are at length ended, and the bracing Northern wind and exhilarating sunshine of the autumn have come to revive out spirits. The attractions of the silk-room and the ten-room, the counter and the desk, are being gradually undermined by the healthier pleasures of the cricket-field, the race-course, and the riser. Holi. days are beginning to follow each other rapid succession, and uenrly all classes feel once more the inspiriting sensation that the thick of the year's work is over, There are few places in the world, perhaps, where people possess 8o fully the talent for enjoying themselves us Shanghai, Englishmen, as a role, are reproached with taking their pleasures sadly, One of the foremost thinkers of the day has suid that life would be endurable enough if it were not for its pleasures, Of course we can understand easily enough what this menus, There is nothing more irksome to a quiet and studious man such as the writer in question than the constant interruption of work by enforced gaieties and frivolities for which he has no taste.
Many a man would sooner sit quietly at homo in dressing-gown and slippers, with his book and a cigar, than loungeaimlessly about a ball-room while his wife is walling with his friends. The cross and heated faces of Eastertide excursionists are often suggestive of more weariness than enjoyment in their parsnit even of an occasional holiday. Still, no mau can live with. out relaxation, and what difference soever may exist between individual tastes, it stands to reason that the pen or the plough must be enst inside once in a way, and the industrious worker allow himself some opportunity of recuperating his exhausted energies, For this purpose there is perhaps no more favourable place than Shanghai. Bea man's peculiar tastes what they may, he has here full opportunities for their gratification, Lord Bacon once sui that the purest of all human pleasures was horticulture. We are not disposed to join issue on this point, if the aphotism be put in the form that there is no purer pleasure in life than the culture of fruits and flowers; but it would be unjust to deny that there are many others equally pure. Rowing is beyond question one of these. 'I'he splendid exercise it affords for every muscle of the body, the healthful influences and associations of the open country air, and the strict regimen re. quired for the attainment of proficiency in the art, are all in favour of thie pastime from a moral as well as from a physical point of view. Racquets, cricket, lawn-tennis, foot-ball, all tend to keep both mind and body in a state of health, and to cherish the fresh and wholesome associations of one's schoolboy days. Norarethe quieter enjoyment of indoor life cut off from usin China. We have libraries and book-sovietics, mucic in many forms, dancing, whist-dabs, and theatricals, The Town-band is a valu. able institution, and we may be per. mitted to express a hope that a moderato scale of charges will be eventually fixed for their assistance on public and private occasions, so that the commanity may be able to reap the fall benefit of their services without being deterred by cone siderations of undue expense. We are probably to be son honoured by a visit from the Royal Princes, and shall be at once plunged into consultations, suggestions, and resolutions as to how their Royal Highnesses are to be entertained, The bright cool weather we are uow enjoying will we hope infuse new life into the Volanteers, and a grand parade might without impropriety be arranged for aten early date, Above all, the season has now been fairly me augurated for whut is probably the ost generally popaler and healthful recreation that the place affords. The amusements of Shanghai in the autumn weather are wholesome nud varied, but they Inck the important element of change of scene. This is, pre-eminently, the season for trips and travelling. Ib isthe season when the mach-abused capital of China is seen to its fullest vantage, Daring the present month, the climate of Peking is like the autumn climate of Shanghni when tits best, only refined and purified. It is a climate in which it seems impossible for any body lo be ill; indeed, which seems to inspire the most delicate with a feeling of boisterous health. Che splendid atmos. phere of the surrounding mountains, the exquisite beauty of the neighbouring monasteries, enthroned on richly-wooded slopes glowing with the variegated tints of autumn, and pervaded with an air of absolute repose, broken only by the deep booming of the temple-bells, as they respond to one another from hill to hill, are yearly attracting larger number of visitors not only from Shanghai, bat feom other parts of the world, There are few who, having once summoned courage to make this journey, do not acknowledge that they would not have missed it for any consideration. But for others, there are the beauties of the country nearer home, and many will be the up-country trips as soon as the races come on, The good effects of getting away from Shanghai if only for a few days can scarcely be over-estimated. The breezy air of the uplands, and the sturdy walk through the herbage in pursuit of the savage phessaut and the merry pig,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.