"Marriage Tax" - By Henry Livingston - To "When Sable Night" - one of my favorite funny poems

YouTube ^ | Henry Livingston

[mairdie]

"Marriage Tax" was published by Henry Livingston, Jr, author of "Night Before Christmas" in the Poughkeepsie Country Journal of April 4, 1787 under the pseudonym "R". One of the funniest of his many funny works. Music is from The Duenna by Richard Sheridan, and appears in Henry's music manuscript. Illustrated with vintage postcards.

[mairdie]

Henry's family must have been convulsed with laughter. He was a local judge and wrote about the reward due to successful horsethieves, and about the origin of various words, about medical cures for love diseases, etc. This poem is about his horror at reading that the legislature was going to tax marriage licenses.

For a short description of the Night Before Christmas authorship attribution controversy, see a previous poem announcement.

[mairdie]

PING

[Aquamarine]

I really like this one. This proves that he was a fiscal conservative.

[mairdie]

Funny. Never thought of that.

He was obviously enamored of marriage. He wrote to his grandson, who moved to the frontiers of Illinois to practice law, and encouraged him to marry. “Celibacy is good, but marriage is better!” Henry remarried ten years to the day after his first wife died. The grandson became a US Senator and Chief Justice of the IL Supreme Court. Henry used to write advice to the neophyte lawyer, as he was, himself, a local judge.

[Aquamarine]

You have amazing lineage.

[mairdie]

Not my fault. Blame father.