Note 133 — Chapter XLII
Reading edition
— Vol. ii., p. 120. It may be here stated that by the Common Law of England a confessor was obliged to reveal the fact to the Government in the case of his receiving from a penitent the confession of the heinous crime of High Treason.
Garnet said that “the priest is bound to find all lawful means to hinder and discover it, but that the seal of the Confessional must be saved, salvo sigillo confessionis.” — See Foley’s “Records,” vol. iv., p. 162. — It seems to me that this statement of Garnet is of the utmost importance.