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TESTIMONIALS.

safe manufacturers can be expected to do, is tomake such a depository as secure against fire,thieves, and burglars, as the laws of nature andscience will permit. A great fault with somemakers is, that they declare their safes and chestswill do too much—more than is possible. Thepublic can only require from inventors such resultsas are within the bounds of practicability, and donot expect to see perpetual motion, or to hear ofthe actual discovery of the philosopher’s stone.Those who offer such gratuitous results must notbe surprised to be generally disbelieved, and wit-ness their statements ridiculed and laughed at.

I am compelled to express my surprise and regretthat men of the highest character and attainmentsshould append their names to such documents,which doubtless, contrary to their intentions, areonly calculated to mislead the public, who placeimplicit belief in the truth of the statements thereincontained, simply on the strength of such an arrayof influential and respectable signatures.

Before reading the following testimonials, se-lected from those published by the safe manu-facturers, whose names they respectively bear, itmay be well to enquire the meaning of certainwords and expressions therein used, as follow :

When deeds are spoken of as having been pre-served, it is invariably understood to mean parch-ment deeds, though in many cases the word “ parch-ment” will be found omitted.