" We must
have some respect or end in mind in reference to which the goodness is
reckoned. Good always means good _for_. That little preposition cannot
be absent from our minds, though it need not audibly be uttered. The
knife is good for cutting, the day for business, the President for the
blind needs of his country. Omit the _for_, and goodness ceases. To be
bad or good implies external reference. To be good means to further
something, to be an efficient means; and the end to be furthered must
be already in mind before the word good is spoken.
The respects or ends in reference to which goodness is calculated are
often, it is true, obscure and difficult to seize if one is unfamiliar
with the currents of men's thoughts. I sometimes hear the question
asked about a merchant, "Is he good?"--a question natural enough in
churches and Sunday-schools, but one which sounds rather queer on
"'change." But those who ask it have a special respect in mind. I
believe they mean, "Will the man meet his notes?" In their mode of
thinking a merchant is of consequence only in financial life. When
they have learned whether he is capable of performing his functions
there, they go no farther. He may be the most vicious of men or a
veritable saint. It will make no difference in inducing commercial
associates to call him good.
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