The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1848-09-30

I
neighbors, would nevertheless warn then
against such phrases as the one selected a
a title to this little paper. IL is very sig
nihcant phrase, significant of dangerou.
iaxlty in The character and conduct of those
with whom it is habitual. That will dc
quite well enough have done it wei
enouSh'-are not words ever uttered by
those who have high, that is, a true sense
oil duty. No man who knows What work
ooght to be, can talk OF anything he has
done as being ',ceu enough Ii is lazy,
slovenly, 'make-shill' sort of spirit that can
Tor moment tolerate the idea of doing
any given business Just merely well
enough. Nothing is done we'll enough
that we can, by proper exertion, do better,
Let us stlll go on 'bettering what is best.
10 DO this, we must keep our minds we'll
braced up to the highest point they can be
stretched 10, without an oyer-strain. De-
pend upon il. this tension is better FOCUS
morally, Intellectually, ay, even physical.
~, than the state OF relaxation which is
eylnced by the use of the words, ooh, that
will do quite well enough There is a
whole world Of unsatisfactory morality in
these common and seemingly harmless
words. If the spirit which prompts them
were 10 rule society, society would speed
ly come 10 an end. The 'well-enough'
principle has in it no IDEAL Of perfection,
no thought beyond the immediate and the
present, no recognition OF the Infinite
IL is selfish, earthly, and unenduring. No
race OF men, no single man, was ever re-
generated by doing things well enough;
The heroes, the reformers of mankind, took
their labor as Divine mission, and did il
accordlngly-'as well as in them lay'-if
need were, dying in the act Of completing
or lettering their work. These were not
the people TO scramble or lounge through
an allotted task and then push it from them
with the exclamation, 'therel that will do
we'll enough
Let US glance for a moment at the vast
quantity of rubbish cast upon the world
under the courteous name Of Icork done well
enough. Everywhere this sort Of work
meets tbs. In manufactures, in mechanics,
in agriculture and in art; in legislation and
IN Literature. In every department Of civil
lied life there are found things, like DR..
WOlcOt's razors, made to sell; things which
have no reality in them-that is, which
have no portion of the makers mind inves-
ted in them, giving them the pro-principle
of life-ulility. Such things are indeed
dead matter. They were made by people
who put no heart into the work, who, got
through it. who did not think of it earnest.
ly, as duty to be hanestly, truly, religious
ly achieved for the use Of others. With a
false estimate Of themselves and their mis-.
sion Perhaps without a thought Of either
they looked with contempt upon the object
Of their sO-called word, and sent il forth as
something good enough Coz tho occasion.
If men were but properly impressed
with an idea OF conscientious work-work
done according TO conscience-nothing
merely got through, or made to look as il
It were done, but honestly done, actually
done, to the best Of our ability, what diff
ferent world it would be then!
| do not desire to Sc, up one set of peo
pie against another, or to insinuate that the
world is altogether ia a worse state than it
was two thousand years ago; but there is
no shutting ones eyes to the fact, that work
is not so sacred a thing with US as j. was
among the ancients. As far as we can see,
there was no inefficient tcell-enOugh work
ing then. Look at the Roman roads, and
aqueducts, and walls; at Grecian works OF
are, Egyptian and Indian templss and tombs.
Now, these things were all done in earnest.
Their makers meant them to be as good as
ever they could be-to last as long as pos
sible. These works have the two ideas Of
perfection and Of duration clearly marked
on them. Those who made them, worked
with these ideas in their minds, and they
remain in the work to bear testimony to
that fact. They may be read as distinctly
there as if they were written in inefaceable
words. 1t would be mere folly to say thai
these ideas of perfection and endurance are
peculiar to the looker-on of the present day;
it cannot be so, for the remains Of ancient
work affect all lookers-on in the same way
with regard to these ideas. OF course they
suggest many others to different minds, buI
Invariably they make men admire the
greatness of the conception, and the enor
nous labour expended in the execution
Now let US turn to similar works among
ourselves. Elections of public utility
let us look at them. Do they look as if they
would last, or as if they were meant to last
as long as Roman road! How is it thai
railway bridges and viaducts are so frequent
ly giving way?-that newly built house:
fall about mems heads?-that steamships
are continually blown up? Oh some one
replies, 1T is because we live so fast. We
have so much to do, that there is no time
for doing things substantially, as the an
clients did: they could take their time abou
all their business believe this to be nc
true reason. If we were impressed with q
just idea OF the necessity for being homes
in our work, we should never be in g
great a hurry to finish it as TO leave th'
most important half undone. No: ii i
not from the rapidity of material progress
around US, that our material works are 81
unstable, incomplete, and mean. 1t il
from want of high standard Of right il
our morality OF everyday life. We thinl
of saving. ourselves trouble, not Of doin.
the work set for us in the best Manner
We are all Of us tainted more or less witt
this selfshnesS. We would all of US, Liz,
Bettine, strange our duty, if We coul'
once catch hold of its neck But thi
must not be. We must rouse ourselves
and get out OF this low and contemptibl,
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