He did not bother himself greatly in regard to intellectualpursuits， but there was always a number interested in good reading， inthe debates of the Literary and Debating Society and in the lectures ofthe Royal Asiatic Society. He could express his public spirit by joiningthe Volunteer Corps and the Fire Brigade， or if he were a “taipan，” bytaking his share in Municipal administration.
It was a well-to-do community with but little poverty. In manyways it might be likened to the life of the southern planter in theUnited States in pre-civil war days.
Much of this mode of life has passed or is passing.
The community is no longer one big family， and is divided intomany sections. Life has become more complex， and the fortunes of theforeign community have become inextricably intertwined with those ofthe Chinese community. Wealth and property have shifted more andmore into the hands of the latter. The days of amassing a fortune in ashort time have passed， and the competition in business has becomekeener. The man with the moderate income can no longer disporthimself as one of the lords of creation， and spend as lavishly as in thedays gone by. He is hemmed in on every side by his fellow Chineseresidents and cannot live entirely to himself.
Yet with all the changes and with all the seeming loss of a uniqueand pleasant sort of existence， there have come compensations.
Shanghai has been taken into world affairs and its life has broadened. Ithas become closely connected with other parts of China and with therest of the world. It is no longer isolated.
The railway and the steamship enable the resident of Shanghai totravel extensively. Summer resorts in China and Japan are open to hisfamily， and the journey to the homeland has become a more frequentpossibility.
He still has his old amusements， and his former opportunities forphysical recreation， and new ones in addition. Shanghai is visited bytravelling theatrical companies， and by the greatest musical artists ofthe West.
Every year it is called upon to entertain a host of distinguishedvisitors.
The social life is just as much in evidence as formerly， and clubsand societies nave multiplied.
No longer a small community—but a great city， with itsimposing buildings， wide boulevards， teeming population， crowdedshipping， large wharves， numerous factories， bustling commerce， andcongested traffic， under the government of a well-organized MunicipalAdministration. One wonders as to its future， but that is not in thepurview of the historian. By the admission of a Chinese element intothe administration of the Settlement the Municipality entered ona new era. The future would seem to depend in no small degree onthe development of a spirit of co-operation and friendship betweenforeigners and Chinese， in place of the all too frequent antagonism andmutual suspicion of the past.
Granted this spirit of co-operation， the International Settlementmay continue to develop as one of the greatest commercial andindustrial centres of the world， of benefit to foreigners and Chinesealike.
