Nothing to be gained by the inspection. If the cause of the Union
really was at stake, the springs of motive were hidden behind the
smiling countenance of the Machiavellian WOLMER. The only thing to
do, and it is quite foreign to the habits of OLD MORALITY, was to
meet guile with guile. WOLMER's question, plain enough as it appeared
in print on the prosaic Orders, was, "Will Her Majesty's Ministers
consider the advisability of appointing a Royal Commission to examine
and report how far the evil of Fog is one that may be mitigated by
legislation?"
"Sir," said OLD MORALITY, rising to the occasion, "I have to assure my
Noble Friend that Her Majesty's Government are, in common with other
inhabitants of the Metropolis, extremely sensible of the serious
injury, disturbance, and hardship inflicted by the increasing
prevalence of fog. What, it may be asked, is the cause of the London
fog? These fogs, which occur generally in the winter time, are
occasioned thus: some current of air, being suddenly cooled, descends
into the warm streets, forcing back the smoke in a mass towards the
earth. But, my Noble Friend might ask, why are there not fogs every
night? I will tell him, for this is a matter in which Her Majesty's
Government have nothing to hide, or, I may add, to conceal.
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