Henchard was, by original make, the last man to act stealthily, for good or for evil. But the solicitus timor of his love — the dependence upon Elizabeth's love into which he had declined (or, in another sense, to which he had advanced) — denaturalized him.

The communicating doors of adjoining vehicles are opened simultaneously by pressing a large push-button located a suitable height for a man loaded with mailbags to contact it with his shoulder; after a time-lag of seven seconds the doors close automatically.

Meanwhile, the authoritarianism, which has turned left-liberalism into a movement for sneaks and prudes, was always going to play into the hands of the right. Free citizens have stopped listening to those who respond to the challenge of argument by screaming for the police to arrest the politically incorrect or for universities to ban speakers who depart from leftish orthodoxy.

For the challenge, GCHQ posted a code at www.canyoucrackit.co.uk and invited British citizens to solve it. The code consisted of 160 letters and numbers arranged in a rectangular display.