Scrooge is more chastened in this Spirit's company than he was in the presence of the Ghost of Christmas Past and expresses his willingness to learn from any lesson the Spirit will show him. The Spirit takes Scrooge to the city streets with which Dickens himself was very familiar and which he paced each night while composing " A Christmas Carol" - 'past the areas of shabby genteel houses in Somers or Kentish Towns, watching the diners preparing or coming in'. Dickens incorporated these scenes into his novella. In the original manuscript, the Spirit refers to “my oldest brother”, a clear reference to Jesus Christ and the first Christmas, but Dickens erased this reference before publication as being irreverent.