H.M.S. Phaiton, Lisbon, Aug 25.
149. _Passage in Luther._--In Luther's _Responsio ad librum Ambrosii
Catharini_, where he attacks the confessional, he says:
"Cogit etiam papa peccata suarum legum confiteri--ad hæc tot
peccatorum differentiis, speciebus, generibus, _filiabus_,
_nepotibus_, _ramis_, circumstantiis," &c.
Were these expressions merely jocular, or have any papal canonists or
casuists given the title of _filiæ_, _nepotes_ or _rami_ to offences
deducible from the same root?