Mr. Roscoe.—"I would not give my sanction to such a decree. No, Sir, we will retain our Prayer-book, but have it submitted to a very severe purifying process. There must not be, as at the Reformation, an attempt made to please both Papists and Protestants; it must be made thoroughly Protestant, as it is designed for us; and hence there must be a thorough purging out of the old leaven of Popery, and nothing retained but what is in exact harmony with the New Testament records. No rite, no ceremony, no institution, no ecclesiastical law or regulation which does not originate in Divine appointment."
Rev. Mr. Ingleby.—"If this could be accomplished, and we could have a Prayer-book whose articles and ceremonial rites and institutes would exactly harmonize, as they ought to do, with the integrity and the purity of the New Testament, then the Church of England would become a great moral and spiritual power amongst us, justly entitled to the admiration and the homage of the British people, whose sympathies and affections would rally so closely around her, that she need not stand in awe of the aristocracy of Popery, nor be jealous of the democracy of Dissent, nor cherish the slightest misgivings, when assailed by any class of infidels."
Mr. Lewellin.—"I should very much like to see such a prayer-book substituted for the half-Papal and half-Protestant one which you now have; and if, Sir," addressing Mr. Roscoe, "you were nominated on a commission appointed to revise it, what suppressions and alterations would you propose?"
Mr. Roscoe.—"I would begin with the Catechism."
THE CATECHISM.
Rev. Mr. Ingleby.—"A catechism should be a digest of the entire theory of Divine truth, arranged in logical and systematic order, every part should be stated in such definite and plain terms as to be easily understood, especially by the young."
Mr. Roscoe.—"But our Catechism does not answer this description. It contains no correct digest of biblical truth, nor is there any order; it is defective on some points, and on others it is erroneous—more in harmony with Papal than with Protestant belief. It begins by advancing, in a categorical form, a delusive and a most fatal error, which, as a necessary sequence, is made to run through all the prominent ceremonies of our church, placing the Tractarians on the vantage ground, who claim the honour of being more faithful expositors of our national creed than their evangelical opponents. In reply to the question about who gave the catechumen his name, he is taught to say, 'My godfathers and godmothers in my baptism, wherein I was made a member of Christ, the child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven.'"
Mr. Lewellin.—"These ecclesiastical officials can put in no claim to a Divine origin or sanction; there is no allusion to godfathers or godmothers in the Bible; they are an importation from Rome; and I think it will be more to your honour to send them back, than retain them in your service."
Mr. Roscoe.—"What follows is equally, if not more objectionable:—'Question.—What did your godfathers and godmothers then for you? Answer.—They did promise and vow three things in my name. First, that I should renounce the devil and all his works, the pomp and vanity of this wicked world, and all the sinful lusts of the flesh. Secondly, that I should believe all the articles of the Christian faith. And thirdly, that I should keep God's holy will and commandments, and walk in the same all the days of my life.' Thus the Church of England initiates the rising generation into the belief of positive and dangerous error;[25] substitutes absolute falsehood for Scripture truth, as no such moral wonders[26] are performed when the rite of baptism is administered."