trifler, a blank in society, which every sensible person overlooks;
surely what is worth doing is worth doing well, and nothing can be done
well if not properly attended to. When I hear a man say, on being asked
about any thing that was said or done in his presence, "that truly he
did not mind it," I am ready to knock the fool down. _Why_ did he not
mind it?--What had he else to do?--A man of sense and fashion never
makes use of this paltry plea; he never complains of a treacherous
memory, but attends to and remembers every thing that is said or done.

5. Whenever, then, you go into good company, that is, the company of
people of fashion, observe carefully their behaviour, their address, and
their manner; imitate it as far as in your power. Your attention, if
possible, should be so ready as to observe every person in the room at
once, their motions, their looks, and their turns of expression, and
that without staring or seeming to be an observer. This kind of
observation may be acquired by care and practice, and will be found of
the utmost advantage to you, in the course of life.

_Absence of Mind_.

1. Having mentioned absence of mind, let me be more particular
concerning it.

What the world calls an absent man is generally either a very affected
one or a very weak one; but whether weak or affected, he is, in company,
a very disagreeable man. Lost in thought, or possibly in no thought at
all, he is a stranger to every one present, and to every thing that
passes; he knows not his best friends, is deficient in every act of good
manners, unobservant of the actions of the company, and insensible to
his own.

2. His answers are quite the reverse of what they ought to be; talk to
him of one thing, he replies, as of another. He forgets what he said
last, leaves his hat in one room, his cane in another, and his sword in
a third; nay, if it was not for his buckles, he would even leave his
shoes behind him. Neither his arms nor his legs seem to be a part of his
body, and his head is never in a right position. He joins not in the
general conversation, except it be by fits and starts, as if awaking
from a dream; I attribute this either to weakness or affectation.

3. His shallow mind is possibly not able to attend to more than one
thing at a time, or he would be supposed wrapt up in the investigation
of some very important matter. Such men as Sir _Isaac Newton_ or Mr.
_Locke_, might occasionally have some excuse for