Answer (of course).—“Extremely well.” (It will do no harm to show a little enthusiasm; the Bostonians, having little of that article themselves, like to see it in others.)
Question.—“How does this country appear to you compared with England?”
(This is a question never asked by the labouring class, who seem to care little or nothing about it; and proves at once your being in good society. You must answer it with great circumspection; as, if you give America the preference, they either think you a hypocrite, or a person not used to society and the world; and, if you show yourself too great a partisan for England, their vanity will never forgive you.)
Question.—“Do you intend to settle here?”
(This question is best answered in the negative.)
Question.—“Are you married or single.”
(If the stranger be a man of moderate fortune, it will be best for him to call himself a married man; the fashionable society of Boston having a great dread of poor bachelors.)
Question.—“Do you not think we enjoy a very bad climate?”
(This they really believe; but it is prudent in Europeans stoutly to deny it. The fact is, it is really not half so bad as generally represented; there being more sunny days in America than, perhaps with the exception of Italy or Spain, in any part of Europe.)
Question.—“Don’t you think the transition from heat to cold very sudden?”