More than our vulgarest credulity;

How good men have desired to see a ghost,

What Johnson used to say, what Wesley did,

Mother Goose thought, and fiddle-diddle-dee:—

If he break in with, "Sir, I saw a ghost!"

Ah, the ways change! He finds you perched and prim;

It 's a conceit of yours that ghosts may be:

There 's no talk now of cowhide. "Tell it out!

Don't fear us! Take your time and recollect!

Sit down first: try a glass of wine, my boy!