Page:A Dissertation on the Construction of Locks (1785).pdf/12

 than thoſe of the preſent, as the mechanical contrivances for ſecurity were leſs excellent; and the progreſs of a diſpoſition to rob, and defraud, may perhaps be more accurately traced in the works of art that were formerly uſed for ſecurity and defence, than on any other principle, or ground of reaſoning. It is certain, however, that no invention for the ſecurity of property hath yet been offered to the world, which the ingenuity of wickedneſs hath not found means to defeat; nor is it probable that the genius of any one man will ever ſtrike out a method, by which all the arts and manœuvres, which are practiſed in the ſcience of robbing, may be effectually counteracted. Modern depradation is reduced to a ſyſtem, in which art and force are exerted with ſuch ſkill and power, as to elude precaution, and to defy reſiſtance. The dread and anxiety, which every inhabitant of the metropolis and its environs, muſt feel in the reflection that he ſleeps with