The Mudfog Papers and Other Sketches

The Mudfog Papers, a collection of sketches by Charles Dickens, describes the local politics of the fictional town of Mudfog - such as thedelusions of grandeur of its mayor Nicholas Tulrumble and his disastrous attempts at putting on a public show - and the meetings of its Society for the Advancement of Everything, during which the town is overrun by illustrious scientists and professors conducting ostensibly pointless research.