Amendments V and VI

Document 25

Holmes v. Comegys

Shippen, President.--It would be of very dangerous consequence, if it was established, that a commercial agent was not amenable as a witness in a court of justice, in a cause against his constituent. It is straining the matter of privilege too far. And if the law makes him a witness, we are too fond of getting at the truth, to permit him to excuse himself from declaring it, because he conceives, that, in point of delicacy, it would be a breach of confidence.

The Founders' Constitution
Volume 5, Amendments V and VI, Document 25
http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/amendV-VI_criminal_processs25.html
The University of Chicago Press