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World, where great importance was attached to evidence of this sort.

The usual nauseating evidence as to the Devil's marks was introduced by
the testimony of the mother of one of the children bewitched. She had
been, a month before, a member of a jury of matrons appointed by a
justice of the peace to examine the body of the accused. Most damning
proof against the woman had been found. It is very hard for us to
understand why Hale allowed to testify, as one of the jury of examining
matrons, a woman who was at the same time mother of one of the bewitched
children upon whom the prosecution largely depended.

So far the case for the prosecution had been very strong, but it was in
the final experiments in court, which were expected to clinch the
evidence, that a very serious mishap occurred. A bewitched child, eleven
years old, had been fetched into court. With eyes closed and head
reclining upon the bar she had remained quiet until one of the accused
was brought up, when she at once became frantic in her effort to scratch
her. This was tried again and again and in every instance produced the
same result. The performance must have had telling effect. But there
happened to be present at the trial three Serjeants of the law. One of
them, Serjeant John Kelyng, a few years later to become chief justice of
the king's bench, was "much dissatisfied." He urged the point that the
mere fact that the children were bewitched did not establish their claim
to designate the authors of their misfortune. There were others present
who agreed with Kelyng in suspecting the actions of the girl on the
stand. Baron Hale was induced, at length, to appoint a committee of
several gentlemen, including Serjeant Kelyng, to make trial of the girl
with her eyes covered. An outside party was brought up to her and
touched her hand. The girl was expecting that Amy Duny would be brought
up and flew into the usual paroxysms. This was what the committee had
expected, and they declared their belief that the whole transaction was
a mere imposture. One would have supposed that every one else must come
to the same conclusion, but Mr. Pacy, the girl's father, offered an
explanation of her mistake that seems to have found favor. The maid, he
said, "might be deceived by a suspicion that the Witch touched her when
she did not." One would suppose that this subtle suggestion would have
broken the spell, and that Mr. Pacy would have been laughed out of
court. Alas for