It was Thomas Campbell who wrote "Now
Barabbas was a publisher," whether in a Bible or otherwise is not
authentically recorded, and forwarded it to a friend; but Mr. Murray was
not the publisher to whom it referred, nor was Lord Byron, as has been
so frequently stated, the author of the joke.
The great burden of the correspondence entailed by the _Quarterly
Review_ now fell on Mr. Murray, for Gifford had become physically
incapable of bearing it. Like the creaking gate that hangs long on its
hinges, Gifford continued to live, though painfully. He became gradually
better, and in October 1816 Mr. Murray presented him with a chariot, by
means of which he might drive about and take exercise in the open air.
Gifford answered:
"I have a thousand thanks to give you for the pains you have taken about
the carriage, without which I should only have talked about it, and died
of a cold. It came home yesterday, and I went to Fulham in it. It is
everything that I could wish, neat, easy, and exceedingly comfortable."
Among the other works published by Mr. Murray in 1816 may be mentioned,
"The Last Reign of Napoleon," by Mr.
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