6

FOREIGN COFFERS.

yet, when admiring their simplicity, we are oftenprompted to ask—“ How could any one entrust tosuch a guard the security of the valuables whichwe know to have been under their care V’ Theanswer is, that if locks were simple and chestsmade of wood, the thieves were also simple andhad hut rude tools and implements of mischief withwhich to effect their purpose. In those days theoak chest was quite as safe as the iron one now,because the strength of the chest itself would gene-rally resist violence, while a lock of the mostsimple construction afforded sufficient security, fromthe circumstance that at that early period themeans of picking such locks were not under-stood.

The first examples of the manufacture of ironsafes or chests, are the foreign coffers. The oneof which the following is a drawing, is 35 incheslong, 21 inches wide, and 23 inches deep, and ismade of sheet iron strongly rivetted to hoop ironcrossed at right angles on the outside. It hasstrong handles at each end, with a multiple lock,which throws eight bolts inside, and it has also twodogs at the back, and two bars and staples for pad-locks outside. The plate covering the bolts isbeautifully pierced and chased, and bears the date1793 and the initials C. H.

The whole of the iron composing it has beenhammered and not rolled , which circumstance goesfar to prove that the date of its manufacture must