et them outdoors and at church and in the kitchen. The
spectres were remarkably wise and named visitors whom the family did not
know. They struggled with the children, they rolled over them in bed,
they followed them to the neighbors.

Somewhat akin to the evidence from apparitions was that from the effect
of a witch's glance. This is uncommonly rare in English witchcraft, but
the reign of James offers two instances of it. In Royston,
Hertfordshire, there was "an honest fellow and as boone a companion ...
one that loved the pot with the long necke almost as well as his
prayers." One day when he was drinking with four companions Johanna
Harrison came in and "stood gloating upon them." He went home and at
once fell sick.[30] At Northampton the twelve-year-old Hugh Lucas had
looked "stark" upon Jane Lucas at church and gone into convulsions when
he returned home.[31]

One other form of proof demands notice. In the trial of Jennet Preston
at York it was testified that the corpse of Mr. Lister, whom she was
believed to have slain by witchcraft, had bled at her presence. The
judge did not overlook this in summarizing the evidence. It was one of
three important counts against the woman, indeed it was, says the
impressive Mr. Potts, quoting the judge, of more consequence than all
the rest.[32] Of course Mistress Preston went to the gallows.

It will occur to the reader to ask whether any sort of evidence was
ruled out or objected to. On this point we have but slight knowledge. In
reporting the trial of Elizabeth Sawyer of Edmonton in 1621 the Reverend
Henry Goodcole wrote that a piece of thatch from the accused woman's
house was plucked and burned, whereupon the woman presently came upon
the scene.[33] Goodcole characterized this method as an "old ridiculous
custome" and we may guess that he spoke for the judge too. In the
Lancashire cases, Justice Altham, whose credulity knew hardly any
bounds, grew suddenly "suspitious of the accusation of this yong wench,
Jennet Device," who had been piling up charges against Alice Nutter. The
girl was sent out of the room, the witches were mixed up, and Jennet was
required on coming in again to pick out Alice Nutter. Of course that
proved an easy matter.[34] At another time, when Jennet was glibly
enumerating the witches that had assembled at the great meeting at
Malking Tower, the judge suddenly asked her if Joane-a-Downe were there.
But the little girl failed to rise to the bait and ans