Like many other men of Herculean power, he was not eager to exhibit his
strength; but on one occasion he gave proof of it in the following
circumstances. Mr. Murray had asked him to accompany him to the
Coronation of George IV. They had tickets of admittance to Westminster
Hall, but on arriving there they found that the sudden advent of Queen
Caroline, attended by a mob claiming admission to the Abbey, had alarmed
the authorities, who caused all the doors to be shut. That by which they
should have entered was held close and guarded by several stalwart
janitors. Belzoni thereupon advanced to the door, and, in spite of the
efforts of these guardians, including Tom Crib and others of the
pugilistic corps who had been engaged as constables, opened it with
ease, and admitted himself and Mr. Murray.
In 1820 Mr. Murray was invited to publish "The Fall of Jerusalem, a
Sacred Tragedy," by the Rev. H.H. Milman, afterwards Dean of St. Paul's.
As usual, he consulted Mr. Gifford, whose opinion was most favourable.
"I have been more and more struck," he said, "with the innumerable
beauties in Milman's 'Fall of Jerusalem.
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