"These signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they
cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up
serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them;
they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." In those
remarkable days the "order of Confirmation" might have been in
consonance with its surroundings, a state of things which is very far
from being its present position. Mr. Spurgeon, writing for the benefit
of street preachers, lately pointed out very sensibly that as the Holy
Ghost no longer gave the gift of tongues, they had "better stick to
their grammars," and in these degenerate days honest effort is more
likely to show results more satisfactory than those which ensue from the
laying on of Bishops' hands. When the Apostles performed this ceremony,
which the Bishop now performs after their example, definite proofs
of its efficacy were said to have been seen; so much so, indeed, that
Simon, the sorcerer, wished to invest some money in heavenly securities,
so that "on whomsoever I lay hands he may receive the Holy Ghost." A
Simon would manifestly never be found nowadays ready to pay a Bishop for
the power of causing the effects of Confirmation. So far as the carnal
eye can see, the white-robed, veiled young ladies, and the shame-faced
black-coated boys, who throng the church on a Confirmation day, return
from the altar very much the same as they went up to it: no one begins
to speak with tongues; if they did, the beadle would probably interfere
and quench the Spirit with the greatest promptitude. They are supposed
to have received some special gifts: "the spirit of wisdom and
understanding; the spirit of counsel and ghostly strength; the spirit
of knowledge and true godliness;" and in addition to these six spirits,
there is one more: "the spirit of thy holy fear." No less than seven
spirits, then, enter these lads and lasses. Wisdom and understanding
are easily perceptible: are they wiser after Confirmation than they were
before? do they understand more rapidly? do they know more? if there
be no perceptible difference is the presence of the Holy Spirit of none
effect? if of none effect can his presence be of any use, of the very
smallest advantage? if of no use, why make all this parade about giving
a thing whose gift makes the recipient no richer than he was before?
Besides, what certainty can there be that the Holy Ghost is given
at all? Allowing--what seems to an outsider a gross piece of
irreverence--that the Holy Ghost is in the fingers of the Bishop to be
given away when it suits the Bishop's convenience, or is in a sort of
reservoir, of which the Bishop turns the tap and lets the stream of
grace descend--allowing all this as possible, ought not some "sign to
follow them that believe"? How can we be sure that the Bishop is not
an impostor, going through a conjuror's gestures and mutterings, and no
magic results accruing? If, in the ordinary course of daily-life, any
one came and offered us some valuable things he said that he possessed,
and then went through the form of giving them to us, saying: "Here
they are; guard and preserve them for the rest of your life;" and the
outstretched hand contained nothing at all, and we found ourselves with
nothing in our grasp, should we be content with his assurance that we
had really got them, although we might not be able to see them, and we
ought to have sufficient faith to take his word for it? Should we not
utterly refuse to believe that we had received anything unless we had
some proof of having done so, and were in some way the better or the
worse for it? The truth is that people's religion is, to them, a matter
of such small importance that they do not trouble themselves about
proof--Faith is enough to comfort them; the six week-days require their
brains, their efforts, their thought: the Sunday is the Lord's day, and
he must see toft: earth needs all their earnest attention, but heaven
must take care of itself; the validity of an earthly title is important,
and the confirmation of a right to inherit property in this world is
eagerly welcomed, but the Confirmation to a heavenly inheritance is
a mere farce, which it is the fashion to go through about the age of
fifteen, but which is only a fashion, the confirmation of a faith in
nothing in particular to an invisible heritage of nothing at all.