Little Dorrit Book 1 Chapter 10

In which we are introduced to the infamous Circumlocution Office, that bureaucratic labyrinth where the art of government seemingly consists in the noble pursuit of How not to do it, and where letters, forms, and delays conspire to frustrate every endeavour for reform or redress. We follow Mr Arthur Clennam’s diligent yet baffled inquiries into the affairs of a debtor named Dorrit, as he meets the Barnacles and their ilk, and later encounters the disillusioned inventor Daniel Doyce, whose earnest attempts to serve his country are thwarted by the very machinery meant to assist.