The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1881-07-10
GOODENOUGH.
BY GASKELL.


time and my name is Neverfai
| Goodenough and that was my name
before [ came to this part of thu
countTy too. In fact I have heard
l was christened so by my fond anC
Idoting parents, in hopes that l would
IprOve living illustration of theGooC
enough qualifications of our race, fol
you see, the family name was Good
Ienough and Joined by Neverfail i
was thought L would live up to thu
name and would 41e0er fail, being gooc
enough for all stations anu duties OF
life, or, of associating with any
body and everybody on account Of
wealthIOr station. But,simple souls
they did not know the pro gress nine
zenith century civilization would
make, nor how fashion and shoddy
would become triumphant and snobs
would judge a man more by the tex
Cure and cut of the coat he wore anC
one size Of his bank account, than
intrinsic worth, or moral excellence
| shakespeare has asked what is in &
| name, the dust of a CRser being OF
Is little account as the dust of ANY,
oody else; but then Caesar living
would be a very different affair to
Caesar dead; and, would not rose
be just as fragrant and sweet under
any othersappellation? Aname may
mean HUT, Or mounting, only as a
representative of substance, yet.
until it IS changed. we may call it
the synonym for such ideas and as
sociatlons as are pleasing, or disa-
greeable, as the thing is that is rep
resented by it. B t in thinking
about names we seemingly forget
the associations and ideas such
names call up to the mind and how
pleasing and refreshing such mem
cries are rising almost impercepti-
bly, in the soul, permeating and
tinting all our thoughts in that di-
rectiOn. But as the sordid cares of
life usurp more and more the mind
and chain it in its speculatlons to
the earth, spiritual thoughts and
intellectual pleasures gradually be-
come dimmed and die out; and, as
activity in some form, or other, is
the normal condition of mankind,
such pleasures and practices imper-
ceptibly lose their power and intiu-
ence less and lessIou actions, until
our time is unaIIy MED IN frivolous
pursuit of fashion, or selfish acqui-
sition of worldly wealth.
But mOraiiZing is not always a
sign of goodness any m re than the
aScetic severity, Negotiations ana
macerations, of the old time her
mitS, were of virtue; nor did l find
the name of Neyerfail to keep me
from failing miserably at times in
what l und rtoOk to do. | felt the
thorn under many rose, and have
had a severe fall more than once,
when l thought my footing most
secure; so l found had to watch as
well as pray and keep my eyes we'll
upon the path | trOd, even when
seeking fresh beauties and wonders
among the stars above. And when
upon a long tramp, as many one
[ have taken in my younger days, [
always found ] made better pro-
gress and suffered less from my ex-
ertiGns, when [ started fully pre-
pared and at a moderate pace, than
when l fastened matters and sought
to accomplish all with a rush. But
as the end is what we all pretty
much place our thoughts upon and
seek, such wisdom Of procedure is
very hard to practice; for be it a
journey, or be it the gaining of rich
es, or fashionable position, or station
in the mercantile or political world,
we still look for something ahead
and beyond our present vision. Many
Of the best men and greatest minds
the world has ever seen, have made
but slow progress at the start, but
their powers Of perseverance and
retention were large and what was
once mastered and learned, was
never forgotten. and their progress
though not Of the swiftest was uni
form and continuous.
But such thoughts rather lead
from than towards myself and as l
am to be the central figure around
which these reflections, sayings,
WhimSicalities, or wisdom reyO'Ve,
something more should be said than
that / was born; for l never heard
of any persons who were not born
in the usual way except our first
parents Adam and Eve, or mayhap
of the brave Scottish Thane, Mac
duff. 1t is only in the mythology Of
fabulous times and remote ages that
we have account of men being
plucked from trees like apples or
being dug up from the ground like
potatoes; the nearest approach to it
now is our philosophically proven
descent from monkeys, which any
believer to an extreme, of the sci
ence of evolution, who takes into
account and judges from our aping
the fashions and our mimicry Of
manners, will confess we are fully
entitled to claim. But though
in common with the rest of MN
kind, [ may be entitled to
such an illustrious descent accord
ing to all laws of equity, yet / can
not legally prove it, as our family
records extend not back SO far by
several myriads of years and L
therefore dare not lay claim to such
nobility of rank, lest l be called upon
to exhibit our patent and in the alb
sence thereof, l. be brought to
shame. Indeed, in the records [
have, [ find no mention whatever
of the missing ink-a tail-and as
the discarding, or casting off, of such
an appendage Of comfort and ele-