Lamentable now must be the case of those poor women who, in this
quarter, happen to long for green pease or strawberries; for I dare
assure them, upon the _honest word_ of an astrologer, that they can get
none on this side of next Easter. Some now-abouts under the notion of
soldiers, shall sally out at night upon _Pullen_, or perhaps lie in
embuscade for a rope of onions, as if they were Welsh freebooters. Loss
of time and money may be recovered by industry: but to be a fool-born,
or a rogue in nature, are diseases incurable.
Remember that in any quarter of the year, this is almost always a
certain presage of a wedding, when all parties are agreed, and the
parson in readiness; and then you must be sure to have money in
readiness too, or your intended marriage may happen to prove a
miscarriage. But those who are able to pay for tying the knot, when it
is fairly tied, may go home to dinner and be merry; go to the tavern and
be merry; go to supper and be merry; rise next morning and be merry: and
let the world know, that a married life is a plentiful life, when people
have good estates; a fruitful life when they have many children; and an
happy life, when man and wife love each other as they ought to do, and
never quarrel nor disagree.
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