t. As in many
other industrial crafts the religious enthusiasm of the Middle Ages
impelled the artist-mechanic to throw his whole soul into the
manipulation and adornment of his keys, key-hole escutcheons, and other
parts of door-fastening furniture. With his steel pencil and gravers,
his chisels and his drills, the craftsman of olden times produced an
article of utility which was at the same time a work of art. Will the
Art Classes of modern Willenhall be able to achieve as much for the
staple industry of the town as did the whole-souled enthusiasm of the
Middle Ages?

The Gothic key, usually of iron or of bronze, was generally plain; but
after the Renaissance the best efforts of the locksmiths' art were
directed to the decoration of the bow and the shaft, and many finely
wrought specimens of ornamental old keys are still in existence.

On the utilitarian side of our subject, industrial history records that
we are indebted to the Chinese for unpickable locks of the lever and
tumbler principle; and to the Dutch for the combination or letter-lock.
The latter ingenious contrivance contained four revolving rings, on which
were engraved the letters of the alphabet, and they had to be turned in
such a way as to spell some pre-arranged word of four letters, as O P E
N, or A M E N, before the lock could be opened.

Allusion to this complex contrivance is made by the poet Carew in some
verses written in the year 1620--

As doth a lock
That goes with letters--for till every one be known
The lock's as fast as if you had found none.

Mechanical ingenuity in lock making has also expanded itself along the
line of marvellous miniatures, in the production of toy locks so small
that they could be worn as pendants or personal ornaments. Allusion will
presently be made to a Willenhall specimen.

Another ingenious variety of locks was contrived to grab and hold the
fingers of pilferers.

The first patent granted in England for a lock was in 1774; ten years
later Joseph Bramah, of London, "the Napoleon of locks," patented his
famous production, with which he challenged the whole world. The reward
of 200 guineas which he offered to anyone who could pick his lock
remained unclaimed for many years, till in the Exhibition year 1851 an
American visitor named Hobbs took up the challenge, and succeeded, after
a few days of persevering experiment, in overcoming the inviolability of
it.

The sensation caused by this achi