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 absence of mind; it might proceed from that intenseness of thought that was necessary at all times for the scientific subjects they were studying; but, for a young man, and a man of the world, who has no such plea to make, absence of mind is a rudeness to the company, and deserves the severest censure.

4.  However insignificant a company may be; however trifling their conversation; while you are with them, do not shew them by any inattention that you think them trifling; that can never be the way to please; but rather fall in with their weakness than otherwise, for to mortify, or shew the least contempt to those we are in company with, is the greatest rudeness we can be guilty of; and what few can forgive.

5.  I never yet found a man inattentive to the person he feared, or the woman he loved; which convinces me that absence of mind is to be got the better of, if we think proper to make the trial; and believe me, it is always worth the attempt.

Absence of mind is a tacit declaration, that those we are in company with are not worth attending to; and what can be a greater affront?—­Besides, can an absent man improve by what is said or done in his presence?—­No; he may frequent the best companies for years together, and all to no purpose.  In short, a man is neither fit for business nor conversation, unless he can attend to the object before him, be that object what it will.

Knowledge of the World.