In 1579 an innkeeper at Toulouse killed with his own hand, unknown to
the inmates of his house, a stranger who had come to lodge with him, and
buried him secretly in the cellar. The wretch then suffered from
remorse, and confessed the crime with all its circumstances, telling his
confessor where the body was buried. The relations of the dead man,
after making all possible search to get news of him, at last proclaimed
through the town a large reward to be given to anyone who would discover
what had happened to him. The confessor, tempted by this bait, secretly
gave word that they had only to search in the innkeeper's cellar and
they would find the corpse. And they found it in the place indicated.
The innkeeper was thrown into prison, was tortured, and confessed his
crime. But afterwards he always maintained that his confessor was the
only person who could have betrayed him. Then the Parliament, indignant
with such means of finding out the truth, declared him innocent, failing
other proof than what came through his confessor. The confessor was
himself condemned to be hanged, and his body was burnt. So fully did the
tribunal in its wisdom recognise the importance of securing the sanctity
of a sacrament that is indispensable to salvation.