asserted, that a Roman-catholic was carried through the streets of London to be buried at St. Pancras, and that the Host was carried, and Priests walked publicly before the corpse; and that the numerous attendants that followed, insulted and knocked down all who did not pay due obedience to their foreign foppery, and beat many persons whom common curiosity excited to ask any questions relative to the said procession. Should any part of this alarming account be true, the offenders cannot be punished with too much severity; but should it be a misrepresentation of facts, the publick would be equally pleased to be undeceived, and he who indiscreetly or wickedly propagated the report without foundation will be the only offender. "In order therefore to get at the real truth of this matter, a few days ago, the informations on oath of the beadle of the said coal-heavers office, of the pall-bearers, mourners, undertaker, his servant, the landlord of the house from whence the corpse was carried, and some other inhabitants who followed the corpse (several of whom were Protestants), were taken before John Fielding, Esq.; and they all positively declared that at, or from the house, whence the man was carried to the grave in Pancras church-yard, no Host, representation of Host, crucifix, or other visible and external mark of the deceased Patrick Crevey being a Roman-catholick, was carried either before or after the said corpse; and that no Catholic Priest of any sort, to their knowledge, attended the said burial; but that the said Crevey (though a Roman-catholic) was buried by a Clergyman of the Church of England, and strictly conformable to the ceremonies of the said Church. And the aforesaid beadle, pall-bearers, mourners, and undertaker, further declare, that they themselves during their passage from the house to the grave, neither met with, nor were witnesses to any obstruction whatever; but that they afterwards heard that some of the coal-heavers who were at farther distance from the corpse behind had some dispute, which occasioned blows, with some persons who imitated the Irish howl, and called out _Paddy_, by way of derision to the deceased and his attendants, &c. &c. "JOHN FIELDING." THE COCK-LANE GHOST. There is something so absurd and ridiculous in the terrors spread by _Miss Parsons_, that I think it hardly fair to class her operations with really serious offences against the laws of morality; but, recollecting that her _knockings indicated_ a charge of poisoning, my scruples are removed, and I proceed to sketch the principal outlines of an incident that agitated the public mind till 1762, when all who had "three ideas in continuity" were convinced that the _spirit_ possessed no _supernatural_ powers.