Secondly, I mourn to think that when the New Zealander picks up his old copy of this book, and reads it by the associations of his own day, he may, in spite of the many assurances I have received that my Athenæum Budget was amusing, feel me to be as heavy as I feel James Gregory and Sanders.[1] But he will see that I knew what was coming, which Gregory did not.

---

[1] These two (principally Gregory) composed a bit of heavy jocosity, published pseudonymously in 1672. The Budget began as a series in a weekly, Athenæum; the assembled collection was published posthumously in 1872.

I don't know how New Zealanders reäct; but, in 2012, I don't find the jocosity of the Budget the least bit heavy. I laugh aloud at some passages and am at least amused by a larger share. However, I admit that much of the content seems to me a tedious enumeration.

Tags: Augustus de Morgan, de Morgan, humor

This entry was posted and is filed under communication. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.