Et ne paucis pateat,
Etiam fictis.
(My gate stands open for my friends;
But lest of these too few appear,
Let him who to the name pretends
Approach and find a welcome here.)
On a west-of-England mansion:—
Welcome to all through this wide-opening gate;
None come too early, none depart too late.
Fuller (Holy and Profane State) and Walton (Life of George Herbert) notice a verse engraved upon a mantelpiece in the Parsonage House built by George Herbert at his own expense. The faithful minister thus counsels his successor:—