"The Circumlocution Office was (as everybody knows without being
told) the most important Department under Government. No public
business of any kind could possibly be done at any time without the
acquiescence of the Circumlocution Office. Its finger was in the
largest public pie, and in the smallest public
tart. "

Remember the story behind the nursery rhyme Little Jack Horner? He was a real person, who stole a deed to a valuable piece of church property that HenryVIII was seizing, from a parcel of such documents entrusted to his care. His descendants still live on that property. Such a parcel at that time was called a "pie". So he stuck in his thumb, and pulled out a plum. Imagine the consequences if he had been caught.