dots-menu
×

Home  »  Familiar Quotations  »  3856 James Bramston d 1744 John Bartlett

John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.

3856 James Bramston d 1744 John Bartlett

 
NUMBER:3856
AUTHOR:James Bramston (d. 1744)
QUOTATION:But Titus said, with his uncommon sense,
When the Exclusion Bill was in suspense:
“I hear a lion in the lobby roar;
Say, Mr. Speaker, shall we shut the door
And keep him there, or shall we let him in
To try if we can turn him out again?” 1
ATTRIBUTION:Art of Politics.
 
Note 1.
I hope, said Colonel Titus, we shall not be wise as the frogs to whom Jupiter gave a stork for their king. To trust expedients with such a king on the throne would be just as wise as if there were a lion in the lobby, and we should vote to let him in and chain him, instead of fastening the door to keep him out.—On the Exclusion Bill, Jan. 7, 1681. [back]