Moreover, the statement and promise made to all the servants of God to whom the revelation is addressed, is in relation to the priesthood—not the Presidency of the priesthood, or the Presidency of the church, or any other office in the priesthood or church of Christ. Priesthood, and office in the priesthood are two things quite distinct; and even if a man inherited the priesthood of his fathers, it does not follow that he would inherit their office, which must come to him by appointment as the law of the Lord directs, and hereafter to be considered.
Josephites are at great pains to trace in the Book of Mormon the handing down of records and other sacred things from father to son,[A] and this to prove—what? That the office of President of the church or leader of the people, descends by right of lineage from father to son! That is, because the records of a people are handed down from father to son, therefore the Presidency of the church descends by lineage also! What can be more absurd than this? Nor does it help our opponents out of the absurdity because some of those who held the records among the Nephites were presiding high priests over the church. Its only significance is that in those particular cases the office of presiding high priest and that of recorder were united.
[Footnote A: SeeSaints' Herald, Vol. XXXIX., pp. 358-9-0.]
Moreover, in the matter of the records descending from father to son the chain of succession is frequently broken, and in some instances those breaks make a divergence from the direct line. Out of sixteen transfers of the records and other sacred things from one person to another, from the time Lehi left Jerusalem to the coming of Messiah to the Nephites—in seven instances the transfer isnotmade from father to son! In three instances the transfer is made to brothers instead of from father to son; in two cases the transfer is made to nephews; and in two instances the transfer is made to those who are no kin at all, making seven exceptions to the rule out of sixteen cases; lacking only one of being half! Out of six transfers of the sacred things, from the coming of Messiah among the Nephites to Joseph Smith, three of them are not from father to son. One transfer is made to a brother; and two are made to persons of no kin whatever to their predecessors. Josephites say the "exceptions" in this matter "prove the rule," but a "rule" that is violated in half the cases where it is supposed to operate, has rather too many exceptions to prove it—they destroy it.
Let it not be lost sight of, however, that the argument based upon the transfer of records among the Nephites from father to son has nothing to do with the office of President of the church descending by lineage.
As a conclusion to my argument against the claim of Mr. Smith, that the position of President of the church is his by right of lineage, I quote the words of his illustrious father. In a discourse delivered on the 27th of August, 1843, having for his text the seventh chapter of Hebrews, and explaining the phrase in the third verse—"without father, without mother,without descent," etc., he said:
The Melchisedek priesthood holds the right from the eternal God,and not by descent from father and mother;[A] and that priesthood is eternal as God himself, having neither beginning of days nor end of life.[B]
[Footnote A:Italicsmine.—R.]
[Footnote B: Hist, of Joseph Smith,Mill. Star, Vol. XXII, p. 55.]
In the face of this how can Mr. Smith claim any right, by virtue of lineage, to the Melchisedek priesthood, much less to the highest office in that priesthood? His claim is denied by that very father from whom he claims to have received it by inheritance. It occurs to me here to ask a question: If the office of President of the church does descend by lineage from the fathers, through the line of the eldest sons, how is it that the "law" did not operate on the other side of the prophet Joseph as well as on this side of him? If that "law" had operated so—and there is no good reason why it should not so operate, if indeed it be the "law" of the priesthood—it would have left out not only the present Mr. Smith but even the prophet Joseph himself. For in that event it would have come first to Joseph Smith, the father of the prophet, who was a noble, righteous man; and then after his death to his eldest living son, Hyrum Smith, than whom there has been no more righteous man among all the sons of God who have lived in this generation; and from him it would have passed on to his eldest son, thus leaving out the prophet Joseph altogether, as well as Mr. Smith. But let us leave a claim already disproved, and an argument which proves too much for those who employ it.
The third claim made in behalf of Mr. Smith is:
He was called to the position of President of the church by "revelation" to himself.
Of this it is not necessary to say very much. It could only be important if sustained by the other two claims, viz: that he was appointed by his father to succeed to the office of President of the church; and secondly, that the office is his by lineage. Since these two claims have been disproven, it renders his third claim of no effect. The "revelations" to himself by which he was called, however, are as shadowy as the arguments by which it is attempted to sustain his two preceding claims are weak.
Those "revelations" calling him to the Presidency of the church, as I gather them from Mr. Smith's Autobiography, are as follows: First, a vision just after recovering from an illness, in 1853, in which was shown to him, on the one hand, the busy marts of the world where men struggle for place, power and distinction; and on the other hand, an extended plain covered with the peaceful homes of a thrifty, happy people. A personage who appeared by his side said:
Which would you prefer, life, success and renown among the busy scenes that you first saw; or a place among these people without honors or renown? Think of it well, for the choice will be offered to you sooner or later, and you must be prepared to decide. Your decision once made you cannot recall it, and must abide the result.[A]
[Footnote A: Aut. of Joseph Smith, in Josephite edition, Life ofJoseph, p. 753.]
Second, one day out in an open field, while considering the question, "why not go to Utah?" he was overshadowed by a bright cloud and he heard the words: "Because the light in which you stand is greater than theirs."[A]
[Footnote A: Aut. of Mr. Smith, in Josephite edition of Life ofJoseph, p. 763.]
Third, a manifestation was given to him that he must oppose polygamy; but in what way the manifestation was given is not stated.[A]
[Footnote A: Ibid.]
Fourth, in 1859, when revolving the question in his mind: "where and with whom shall my life-labor lie," he received a manifestation—how he does not say—to the following effect:
The Saints reorganizing at Zarahemla and other places, is the only organized portion of the Church accepted by me. I have given them my spirit, and will continue to do so while they remain humble and faithful.[A]
[Footnote A: Aut. of Mr. Smith, Life of Joseph, Josephite edition, p. 772.]
These are all the "revelations" spoken of by Mr. Smith in his autobiography, or quoted by his supporters, hence these must be the "revelations" to himself by which he was called to be President of the church! Just where the "call" can be found in them is the thing which the writer of these pages cannot see: and he challenges anybody else to point it out.
It should be observed here, perhaps, that "revelations" to a man personally, that he is called to be President of the church, even when clear and definite, do not constitute him the President. Something else is necessary. As observed elsewhere, not only must a man be called of God, but he must be accepted by the church—"chosen by the body, appointed and ordained to that office, and upheld by the confidence, faith, and prayer of the church."[A] Besides having no definite call by "revelation," even to himself (judging by the visions and manifestations related by Mr. Smith) to preside over the church, Mr. Smith has never complied with the conditions of the law of the church stated above. That is, he has never been "chosen by the body . . . . upheld by the confidence, faith and prayers of the church"—unless, indeed, the few people, scarce a corporal's guard, who gathered at the Josephite conference at Amboy, in 1860, constituted out of all the tens of thousands of saints in this country at the time, the church! What of the scores of thousands of saints in Utah at that time who never so much as received notice of or an invitation to be present at that "general conference of the church" at Amboy? SurelyMessrs.Gurley and Newkirk were somewhat at fault in neglecting to notify the majority of the saints to attend that conference at which the only true President of the church was to be chosen! To call that gathering at Amboy the general conference of the church, is as ridiculous as absurdity can make it. It is on a par, however, with the "revelations" to Mr. Smith, calling him to be President of the church—the one is a fitting concomitant of the other.
[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. cvii, 22.]
Of course Josephites see the absurdity of this gathering at Amboy being called a general conference of the church, and try to escape it by explaining that all the rest of the saints were in transgression, and could not call a conference—those represented at the Amboy conference were the only saints;[A] that is, the only saints who were "faithfully honoring and obeying the law of the Lord, and the order of his church"[B]—so easy is it to say:
[Footnote A:The Successor, p. 9.]
[Footnote B:The Saints' Herald, Vol. XXXIX, p. 375.]
Orthodoxy, my lord, ismydoxy; and heterodoxy is some otherman's doxy![A]
[Footnote A: Bishop Warburton's answer to Lord Sandwich when he said he did not know the difference between heterodoxy and orthodoxy.]
I come next to the fourth and last claim made in behalf of Mr. Smith, viz:—
He was ordained to be President of the church by those holding legal authority.
Mr. Smith was ordained by Messrs. William Marks, Z. H. Gurley, Samuel Powers and W. W. Blair; William Marks, I think, being mouth. This is that William Marks, who in 1839, was chosen president of the stake of Zion at Commerce, afterwards Nauvoo;—who a year or two before the prophet Joseph's death was associated with traitors and distrusted by the prophet;[A]—who sustained the claims of Sidney Rigdon to be "Guardian of the church";—who at the general conference of the church in Nauvoo, October, 1844, was rejected by the saints as president of the Nauvoo stake of Zion, two persons only voting in his favor, the rest against him;[B]—who as we shall see further on, in December, 1844, over his own signature said: "The Twelve are the proper persons to lead the church;"—who, in 1846, as per statement of Mr. Smith himself,[C] was associated with Mr. Strang, the apostate, in preaching in Fulton city and vicinity, calling upon Mr. Smith and his mother at the time;—and who in 1860 is the chief man in ordaining Mr. Smith "President of the church"—one possessing "legal" authority to do so! To say the least, in the light of William Marks' record, his "legal authority" to ordain the President of the church is very questionable.
[Footnote A: In the winter of 1843, at a time of great danger to the prophet, and when Nauvoo was in danger of being invaded from Missouri to capture him, forty men were sworn into service as special police. In addressing them on the occasion of their being sworn in, the prophet, then mayor of the city, spoke of the danger he was in from traitors living in Nauvoo, saying, "We have a Judas in our midst." This appears to have had an unpleasant effect upon the minds of some leading men in the church, especially upon the minds of Wm. Law and Wm. Marks, who complained before the mayor's court about the actions of these special police. After the investigation of their complaints Joseph, in his journal, says: "Whatever can be the matter with these men?" [Law and Marks] Is it that the wicked flee when no man pursueth, that hit pigeons always flutter, that drowning men catch at straws, or that presidents Law and Marks are absolutely traitors to the church, that my remarks should produce such excitement in their minds? . . . The people in the town are astonished, almost every man saying to his neighbor, "Is it possible that brother Law or brother Marks is a traitor, and would deliver brother Joseph into the hands of his enemies in Missouri? If not, what can be the meaning of all this? The righteous are as bold as a lion."—(Hist. Jos. S.,Mill. S., Vol. XXII, p. 631.) Yet this man of whom the prophet could write these words, is the chief man in ordaining his son "President of the church!"]
[Footnote B: He had previously been dropped by the high council because he persisted in sustaining the claims of Sidney Rigdon as against those of the Twelve.—Times and Seasons, Vol. V, p. 692.]
[Footnote C: See his Aut. in Josephite Ed., Life of Joseph, p. 754.]
Zenas H. Gurley for years followed fames J. Strang's leadership, and advocated his claims. Subsequently apostatizing from him and uniting with Mr. Jason W. Briggs, in forming the "Reorganized church." Any authority held by Mr. Gurley previous to the death of Joseph the prophet, was destroyed by his leaving the church of Christ to follow the apostate James J. Strang; hence any ordination received under his hands was worthless.
I have not been able to learn what position, if any, Messrs. Powers and Blair held in the church previous to the martyrdom of the prophet; but it is enough to know that about the time "young Joseph" decided to take the Presidency of the "Reorganized church," they were associated with William Marks[A] in the work of "reorganizing" the church. It is claimed for them, however, as also for Mr. Gurley, that "they were apostles called by prophecy in the Reorganized church."[B]
[Footnote A: Life of Joseph Smith (Tullidge) Josephite Ed. p. 774.]
[Footnote B:The Saints' Herald, Vol. XXXIX, p. 375.]
It has already been stated how seven Josephite apostles were called and ordained in our sketch of the rise of the Josephite church. Seven men were "called" to form a majority of the quorum of the twelve, by a "revelation" through H. H. Deam; but Messrs. Rogers and Blair were not in that number, hence they must have been "called" subsequently. But no matter when they were "called," if they held any apostolic authority, they held it by virtue of some ordination received at the hands of some one or more of the seven apostles, chosen through Mr. Deam's "revelation." Now, I affirm that among all those seven men who were "called" to form the majority of the quorum of the twelve, in the "Reorganization" not one of them held the apostleship; that they could not give what they did not possess; that therefore neither the seven men called to be apostles, in April, 1853, received the apostleship, nor any whom they subsequently ordained.
Further on I shall show that the church of Christ was not disorganized at the death of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, nor at any other time since it was organized by the commandment of God, to Joseph the prophet, in 1830; and therefore, this "Reorganization" which began its existence in 1852-3 must have been a spurious institution, and, therefore, incapable of bestowing legitimate authority upon anyone.
The methods of argument by which the claims of the "Reorganization" are sustained must be noticed, for they are as erroneous as they are misleading. After the April conference of the "Reorganization" in 1853, a pamphlet was issued entitled "A word of consolation to the scattered Saints," in which a justification of the proceedings of said conference is attempted. In that pamphlet it is said:
In justification of the course then taken, and the principles involved on the question ofauthority, we have ever courted, and still court, investigation in the rigid character of the facts in the first organization.[A] Here they are: Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were ordained to the lesser priesthood by an angel; then by their authority, and a commandment, they on the 6th day of April, ordained each other Elders, and the eldership ordained high priests and apostles, and this high priesthood, ordained, bycommandment, the president of the high priesthood, the highest office in the Church; so that the alleged lesser, ordaining the greater is common to both the first organization and the Reorganization alike. The same class of facts justify both, or condemn both.[B]
[Footnote A: Meaning the organization on the 6th of April, 1830.]
[Footnote B: Life of Joseph the Prophet, Josephite edition, p. 601.]
There is one important fact in the history of the organization of the church in 1830, which the authors of the above quoted pamphlet have overlooked. It is a fact, too, which destroys all likeness between the organization of the church and its alleged reorganization, and all the fine-spun theories about the lesser ordaining the greater. That overlooked fact is that Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery held the apostleship on the 6th of April, 1830, and by its power, and not by the power of the Aaronic priesthood—as alleged by the Josephite writers—organized the church of Christ. In proof of this I submit the following:
When Joseph and Oliver were ordained to the Aaronic priesthood by John the Baptist, May 15th, 1829, they were informed by John that he operated under the direction of the apostles Peter, James and John, who held the keys of the Melchisedek priesthood, which, in due time, the heavenly messenger said, would be conferred upon them.[A] Here then is a promise made to them of the Melchisedek priesthood.
[Footnote A: Hist. Joseph Smith,Mill. Star, Vol. XIV, p. 15, supplement.]
In an address written to the saints by the prophet Joseph, under date of September 6th, 1842, he says:
Again what do we hear? . . . . The voice of Peter, James and John in the wilderness between Harmony, Susquehanna county, and Colesville, Broome county, on the Susquehanna River, declaring themselves as possessing the keys of the kingdom and of the dispensation of the fullness of times.
This doubtless fixes the place where the apostleship was conferred upon the prophet. Now as to the time. In a revelation given in September, 1830, referring to Joseph and Oliver, and speaking of partaking of the sacrament again on earth, the Lord said:—
The hour cometh that I will drink of the fruit of the vine with you on the earth, and with Moroni . . . . . and also with John the son of Zacharias . . . . and also with Peter, James and John whom I have sent unto you, by whom I have ordained you and confirmed you apostles, and especial witnesses of my name.[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov. sec. xxvii.]
In another revelation dated June, 1829, the Lord says:—
And now, Oliver Cowdery, I speak unto you and also unto David Whitmer, by the way of commandment; for behold, I command all men everywhere to repent, and I speak unto you, even as unto Paul mine Apostle,for you are called even with that same calling with which he was called.[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov. Sec. xviii.]
This revelation is the one which informed these men that Twelve Apostles would be called and foretold that Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer would be appointed to select them. From the above quotation it is evident that Oliver and David had received the apostleship at that time, and, of course, Joseph had received it also.[A] This revelation, let it be remembered, was given in June, 1829, ten months before the organization of the church in April, 1830. And it was by virtue and power of that apostleship which holds the keys of the Melchisedek priesthood, that the church of Christ was organized; elders, high priests, seventies, and apostles ordained; high councils and stakes of Zion organized; and the whole church of Christ set in order. It was not the lesser ordaining the higher—as claimed by Josephite writers—that is not the order in the church, nor the manner in which the church was organized on the 6th of April, 1830. It is true that Joseph and Oliver ordained each other elders "of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," on the day the church was organized; but they did not do that by virtue of the Aaronic priesthood which had been conferred upon them, but by virtue of the apostleship they had received. Joseph and Oliver had just been accepted by their brethren to be the presiding elders in the church, and proceeded to ordain each other to that office.[B] Whereupon Josephite writers rush to the conclusion that by virtue of their ordination to the lesser priesthood, they proceeded to ordain each other elders in the higher or Melchisedek priesthood, and that that "eldership ordained high priests, and apostles," and that the "high priesthood," thus brought into existence, "by commandment ordained the President of the high priesthood—the highest office in the church." That is the order of things by which the Josephite reorganization was brought into existence; that is, the lesser ordaining the greater! This argument in support of their proceeding commits them forever to that position, they cannot escape it, and it damns their organization beyond all hope of redemption; for nothing can be clearer than the self-evident proposition that a man cannot give that which he does not possess. Besides the contention is straight against the statement of the prophet Joseph himself as to how we in this generation came by the priesthood, even as published in Josephite works:—
[Footnote A: While in this revelation which refers to Oliver and David as apostles, Joseph is not called an apostle, yet we know he was such for in the revelation which commanded that the church be organized on the 6th of April, 1830, it is said: "Which commandments were given to Jesus Christ, to be the first elder of this church; and to Oliver Cowdery, who was called of God an apostle of Jesus Christ, to be the second elder of the church, and ordained under his hand."—Doc. and Cov., sec. xx, 2, 3.]
[Footnote B: His. Joseph Smith, Mill. Star, Vol. XIV (Supplement), p. 26.]
"The Savior, Moses, and Elias gave the keys of the priesthood to Peter, James and John on the mount, when they were transfigured before him. . . . How have we come at the Priesthood in the last days? It came down in regular succession. Peter, James and John had it given to them, and they gave it to others"—presumably referring to himself and Oliver Cowdery.[A]
[Footnote A: Life of Joseph the Prophet, Josephite edition, p. 493.]
There is no similarity between the organization of the church of Christ on the 6th of April, 1830, and the alleged reorganization in 1853. The first was organized by men holding the keys of the holy Melchisedek priesthood—the apostleship—which possesses the power to organize the church, ordain all the officers therein and set all things pertaining to it in order. But the "reorganization" is accomplished by men of very questionable standing and authority as to their priesthood; and apparently conscious of the inadequacy of even the priesthood they claim to have possessed to perform the task before them—virtually the organization of the church of Christ—they fly to the untenable position, as false in philosophy as it is in fact, that the lesser can ordain the greater, until that greater thus created can ordain a still greater, even the greatest of all! Investigated, then, "in the rigid character of the facts in the first organization," the "reorganization" is found strewn along the sharp-edged rocks of absurdity; and the conviction is forced upon the mind of the investigator that Mr. Smith was not ordained to be "President of the church" by those holding legal authority.
Josephites lay much stress upon the following passage in one of the revelations:
I say unto you that ye have received a commandment for a law unto my church through him whom I have appointed unto you to receive commandments and revelations from my hand. And this ye shall know assuredly, that there is none other appointed unto you to receive commandments and revelations until he be taken, if he abide in me. But verily, verily, I say unto you, that none else shall be appointed unto this gift except it be through him, for if it be taken from him, he shall not have power, except to appoint another in his stead; and this shall be a law unto you, that ye receive not the teachings of any that shall come before you as revelations and commandments; and this I give unto you that you may not be deceived, that you may know that they are not of me. For verily I say unto you, that he that is ordained of me, shall come in at the gate and be ordained, as I have told you before, to teach those revelations which you have received, and shall receive through him whom I have appointed.[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov. sec. xliii.]
Josephites insist that this revelation provides that the successor of the prophet Joseph must be appointed by him. Following is their reasoning upon the passage:
We find in a former commandment, given February, 1831, . . . these very pertinent and instructive words in respect tohowandby whomthe successor of Joseph the Seer would be selected and appointed. It says: "But verily, verily, I say unto you, that none else shall be appointed unto this gift [of revelator, seer, prophet, etc., for the church, to receive 'commandments and revelations' for a 'law' unto the church—Ed] except it be through him [Joseph the Seer];" and it then adds that even if the Lord should take that "gift" from Joseph, he shall not have powerexceptto appoint another in his stead; so that in any event the successor in the office of chief presiding seer, prophet and revelator to the church (which always carries with it the presidency of the church and its priesthood), must be selected and appointed through and by the predecessor—Joseph the Seer.[A]
[Footnote A:The Saints' Herald, Vol. XXXIX, p. 358, the words in italics are all the Josephite writer's.]
The circumstances under which the revelation above quoted was given are these: There came to the church at Kirtland in 1831 a woman making great pretentions to the power of revealing laws and commandments to the church; and some of the saints were much perplexed to know in what light to regard her and her alleged revelations. Joseph, to set their minds at rest, inquired of the Lord and received the revelation from which the passage under consideration is taken.[A] The revelation read in the light of these facts means simply this: First the Lord gives the saints to understand that He has appointed Joseph Smith, the prophet, to receive revelations as laws and commandments for His church and no one else but him, until he should be taken from the earth, provided he remained faithful to the Lord; second, in the event of the prophet Joseph not being faithful, even then he shall still have power to ordain some one else to take his place; third, the one who succeeds to the position of the prophet Joseph, must come in at the gate, and be ordained as the Lord had before instructed the church—that is, he must be accepted by the church, and be ordained by the direction of a general conference.[B]
[Footnote A: Hist. of Joseph,Mill. Star, Vol. XIV, p. 60, supplement.]
[Footnote B: The revelation teaching that none but Joseph should be the law-giver to the church until he be taken from the earth if he remained faithful, etc., was given February, 1831, but before this the Lord had made it the law of the church that "no person is to be ordained to any office in this church, where there is a regularly organized branch of the same, without the vote of that church. . . . Every president of the high priesthood (or presiding elder) . . . is to be ordained by the direction of a high council or general conference."—(Rev. given April, 1830, Doc. and Cov. sec. xx.) The "president of the high priesthood" is also the President of the church, hence the foregoing law applies to the President as well as other officers of the church—he must be sustained by the church and if he is not, he cannot act in that position.]
The information thus given officially to the church was calculated to preserve the saints from following unauthorized "law-givers." Through it they learned that Joseph, if he remained faithful, would be the law-giver to Israel; if he transgressed he should retain sufficient of the power of revelation to designate whom the Lord would have to succeed him; and in that or any other event the man who becomes President must come in at the gate and be ordained as described in one of the laws of the church previously given. There was surely no need after this that any should be deceived. But to argue from what is set down in this revelation that the only possible way for a successor "in any event," to be appointed to the church was through Joseph Smith the prophet, is clearly an error; for the only provision made in this revelation for him to appoint his successor is in the event of his own transgression; and I affirm that Joseph Smith was faithful to God and the church up to the day of his death. Never in his life was he more faithful, more favored by God, or more powerful, or fruitful in revelation or intelligence than in the closing year of his life. He was God's mouthpiece to the church of Christ on earth to the very moment that he sealed his testimony with his blood at Carthage, Illinois.
Having received premonitions of his approaching fate, he desired that his brother Hyrum who had shared his toils, dangers and responsibilities, and who under all circumstances however trying had been true and just and merciful—he desired that this brother should succeed him in leading the church. It so happened, however, in the providences of God that Hyrum fell a martyr before Joseph; and therefore the man whom the prophet desired to succeed him, as well as himself, were taken from the earth. So that notwithstanding the fact that Joseph desired Hyrum to succeed to the Presidency, and had appointed him to that place, both himself and the one he appointed being taken away by the hand of death—the question confronts us just as it would have done had Joseph never intimated that he wanted Hyrum to succeed him. And I now ask, in the absence of both Joseph and Hyrum, where was the authority lodged to lead the church and carry on the work of God? Was the church disorganized? Had God been so shortsighted, so unlike himself, as to establish his church in such a manner that at the death of two of his servants it crumbled to pieces? Can it be that God, with whom all things are as present, had not foreseen this fate which overtook his servants Joseph and Hyrum, and failed to provide for such an emergency? O, charge not the Lord with such lack of wisdom, or his church with such imperfection in its organization!
In the church there are three general presiding councils, of equal authority. These are the First Presidency; the traveling presiding high council, or Twelve Apostles; and the first quorum of Seventy. In proof of the assertion, I quote the Doctrine and Covenants:
Of the Melchisedek priesthood, three presiding high priests, chosen by the body, appointed and ordained to that office, and upheld by the confidence, faith and prayer of the church, form a quorum of the Presidency of the church.
The twelve traveling counselors are called to be the Twelve Apostles, or special witnesses of the name of Christ in all the world; thus differing from other officers in the church in the duties of their calling.And they form a quorum, equal in authority and power to the three Presidents previously mentioned.
The Seventy are also called to preach the gospel and to be especial witnesses unto the Gentiles and in all the world. Thus differing from other officers in the church in the duties of their calling;and they form a quorum equal in authority to that of the Twelve special witnesses or Apostles just named.[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., sec. cvii]
It is the order of the law of God, however, that the Twelve act under the direction of the First Presidency, and the Seventy under the direction of the Twelve. It is also provided that in the decisions of either the Twelve or the Seventy, those quorums must be unanimous—"every member in each quorum must be agreed to its decisions," in order for said decisions to be entitled to the same blessings that the decisions of a quorum of three Presidents receive. However, when circumstances render it impossible to be otherwise, a majority of the members may form a quorum.[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., sec. xvii.]
The decisions of these quorums or either of them are to be made in all righteousness, in holiness, and lowliness of heart, meekness and long suffering; and in that event their decisions are final. But if their decisions are unrighteous they may be brought before a general assembly of the several quorums which constitute the spiritual authorities of the church—in no other way can there be an appeal from their decisions.[A]
[Footnote A: Ibid, verses 27-33.]
These are the limitations set to the equality of these quorums and the only limitations, and now in case of the absence, destruction or rejection of the first of these three great councils, upon whom does the duty and responsibility of Presidency fall? We could well-nigh let the Josephites themselves answer that question. They say:
Now let us examine the order of Presidency in the Church. Supposing the First President is absent, who presides in council or in conference? The counselors, both or either of them. And why? Because they are the highest authority present. True. Then here is the key to unlock the whole secret of the Presidency of the Church. Hear it then!The highest authority presides always.[A]
[Footnote A: From the pamphlet issued by the Reorganization, entitled"A Word of Consolation to the Scattered Saints," quoted by Tullidge.Life of Joseph, Josephite edition, pp. 589-90.]
The closing assertion is made well-nigh as strong as type can be made to say it; and to it I respond: that is true. Now let us consider the situation at Nauvoo after the death of the prophet Joseph, and then see where the Presidency of the church would fall according to this Josephite doctrine that "the highest authority presides always."
The prophet Joseph, his brother Hyrum and Sidney Rigdon constituted the First Presidency at the time of the martyrdom. Joseph and Hyrum being taken, Sidney Rigdon alone was left of that great quorum. We have already spoken of the delinquency of Mr. Rigdon in the performance of his duty during the five years preceding the prophet's death, of Joseph's efforts to be rid of him and of his standing in his quorum at the time his two associates were assassinated at Carthage. He sought to be appointed Guardian of the church, but was unanimously rejected by the assembled quorums of priesthood and the saints at Nauvoo. This was clearly their right, and when the unfaithfulness of Sidney Rigdon and his unfitness for the place is taken into account, not even Josephites can say the church did wrong in rejecting him. In the very meetings where he sought to be appointed "Guardian of the church" there stood the man whom the prophet Joseph had ordained to take his place—Amasa Lyman. But Elder Lyman had never been presented to the people to be sustained by their vote, and hence his appointment was not completed, and he had no claim even to the counselorship to the Presidency. The death of the prophets, Joseph and Hyrum, and the rejection of the unworthy Sidney Rigdon, removed the First Presidency from the church. In Hyrum Smith there fell by martyrdom the only man that the prophet Joseph had designated to succeed him in the Presidency; so that not only was the First Presidency removed from the church, but the only man concerning whom the prophet had expressed a desire to succeed him was also removed. Then upon whom devolved the Presidency? Upon the next highest authority in the church—the Twelve Apostles. And as they possessed equal authority with the First Presidency, there was nothing the First Presidency could do but what the Twelve could do. So long as the First Presidency existed the Twelve could only operate under their direction, but now that there was no First Presidency in existence, the Twelve stood in their place, with full power and authority to act as the presiding quorum in the church.
The church was no more disorganized by the death of Joseph and Hyrum and the rejection of Sidney Rigdon than the government of the United States becomes disorganized when the president dies, or is impeached. The Twelve possessing equal power and authority with the First Presidency, in case of the death or removal of that Presidency, have all the keys and authority necessary to preside over all the church, direct in all the affairs thereof, and move right on with the work of God.
When the Lord stretched forth his hand to establish his church in these last days, and for the last time, committing unto men the keys of his kingdom, and a dispensation of the gospel for the last time; and for the fullness of times, in the which God will gather together in one, all things, both which are in heaven and which are in earth—it is not to be supposed, I say,[A] that in a few years he would permit that church thus brought forth out of obscurity to become disorganized, and fall back into darkness. The thought is preposterous. There is nothing in all that God has revealed to indicate that he ever contemplated its disorganization; but on the contrary, there is every encouragement to believe that it will go on from grace to grace, from faith to faith, from one victory to another until, like the little stone of Daniel's vision, it shall become a great mountain and fill the whole earth.
[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov. sec. xxvii, 13.]
The position of Josephite writers that it was an usurpation for the Twelve to assume the Presidency of the church when the First Presidency was removed by the death of Joseph and Hyrum and the rejection of Sidney Rigdon, is false. The other position that the high council at Nauvoo was the proper authority to succeed to the functions of the Presidency is equally false.[A]
[Footnote A: In proof that Josephite writers assume both these positions, seeThe Saints' Herald, Vol. XXXIX, pp. 407-8]
In support of their first position, viz., that it was an usurpation for the Twelve to assume the Presidency of the church at Nauvoo after the death of the prophet, Josephites rely upon the following:
The Twelve will have no right to go into Zion, or any of her stakes, and there undertake to regulate the affairs thereof where there is a standing high council; but it is their duty to go abroad and regulate all matters relative to the different branches of the church. When the Twelve are together, or a quorum of them, in any church, they will have authority to act independently, and make decisions, and those decisions will be valid. But where there is not a quorum they will have to do business by the voice of the church. No standing high council has authority to go into the churches abroad and regulate the matters thereof, for this belongs to the Twelve.[A]
[Footnote A: Hist. Joseph Smith,Mill. Star, Vol. XV, p. 261. The instructions are from the prophet Joseph.]
Wherein the usurpation lies, according to Josephite argument, is in this: The Twelve came to Nauvoo, where there was a regularly organized stake, and undertook to regulate the affairs thereof. The reply to that sophistry—no, it is not even sophistry—it is simply an inaccurate, not to say untrue, statement. The Twelve did not come to Nauvoo to regulate the affairs of that stake independent of its standing high council. Their action was in relation to the whole church of Christ, and not to the affairs of Nauvoo stake. It was a matter which affected all the stakes of Zion and all the branches of the church throughout the world, as much those branches scattered throughout the United States and Great Britain as those in the stake at Nauvoo, that the Twelve came to Nauvoo to regulate. Matters of such high importance were considered and decided upon which the Twelve and the Twelve only, in the absence of the First Presidency, could deal with; and in those matters the Twelve not only consulted with the high council of the Nauvoo stake, but they called a general assembly of all the quorums and arranged them in their order[A] to act as the highest spiritual authorities in the church. The quorums sustained the action of the Twelve in every particular, and from the united action of the assembled quorums of the priesthoodthere is no appeal.[B]
[Footnote A:Mill. Star, Vol. XXV. Nos. 14, 15, 16.]
[Footnote B: Doc. and Cov., sec. cvii.]
In support of the Josephite assumption that the high council at Nauvoo was the proper authority to regulate the affairs of the church and not the Twelve, the following is quoted:
The standing high councils, at the Stakes of Zion, form a quorumequalin authority,in the affairs of the Church, inalltheir decisions, to the quorum of the Presidency, or to the traveling high council.[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov. sec. cvii, 36.]
The answer to this assumption is, first, that the high council is a judicial and not a presiding or executive council, as is proven by the following:
The high council was appointed by revelation for the purpose of settling important difficulties which might arise in the Church, which could not be settled by the Church or the bishop's council[A] to the satisfaction of the parties.[B]
[Footnote A: That is, court.]
[Footnote B: Doc. and Cov. sec. cii, 2.]
Hence the "equality" here referred to must have reference to judicial not to administrative affairs in the church. The second answer to the assumption is that the standing high council in a stake of Zion is a local council, limited in its operations to the particular district of country comprising the stake. If any proof were needed to sustain the statement it would be found in the words of the prophet Joseph:
No standing high council has authority to go into the churches abroad and regulate the matters thereof, for this belongs to the Twelve.[A]
[Footnote A: Hist. of Joseph Smith,Mill. Star, Vol. XV, 261.]
Surely no one will contend that the standing high council in one stake could go into another stake and attempt to regulate the affairs thereof; for that would create confusion. Nothing can be clearer in the organization of the church than the fact that the standing high councils in the stakes of Zion are judicial not executive bodies, limited in their jurisdiction to the stakes in which they are respectively located; and hence not the proper councils to undertake the general Presidency of the church, or administrative functions of any kind.
Let us now proceed to the proof that Joseph Smith, the prophet, did not take the keys of authority with him from the church, when he fell a martyr to the truth, but that said keys of authority remained with the church, more especially with the quorum of the Twelve.
On March 8th, 1833, the Lord said to Joseph Smith:
Verily, I say unto you, the keys of this kingdom shall never be taken from you, while thou art in the world, neither in the world to come; nevertheless, through you shall the oracles be given unto another yea,even to the church![A]
[Footnote A: Theitalicsare mine. R. Doc. and Cov., sec. xc.]
Joseph and Hyrum, then, did not take with them the "oracles" of God necessary to make the church efficient in accomplishing the work that God designed it to perform. Though the keys given to the prophet were never to be taken from him, either in this world or that which is to come—though for ever he is to stand as the President of the great dispensation of the fullness of times—yet the keys of authority and power committed to his hands may be given to another, "even to the church," not to his posterity, mark you.
This revelation makes it easy to believe that there was inspiration in the declaration of Brigham Young, uttered when he heard for the first time of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum. He was at Peterboro, N. H., when the sad intelligence reached him:—
The first thing that I thought of was whether Joseph had taken the keys of the kingdom with him from the earth. Brother Orson Pratt sat on my left, we were both leaning back in our chairs. Bringing my hand down on my knee, I said,the keys of the kingdom are right here with the church.[A]
[Footnote A: Brigham Young, quoted by Tullidge. See Life of BrighamYoung, p. 106.]
In line also with this revelation under consideration is the testimony of the spirit of God to Parley P. Pratt. This elder while making his way on foot across the prairies of Illinois towards Nauvoo, bowed down with grief at the loss of Joseph and Hyrum, heard the spirit of God say:
Lift up your head and rejoice, for behold it is well with my servants Joseph and Hyrum. My servant Joseph still holds the keys of my kingdom in this dispensation, and he shall stand in due time on the earth, in the flesh, and fulfill that to which he is appointed. Go and say to my people in Nauvoo that they shall continue to pursue their daily duties, and take care of themselves, and make no movement in church government to organize or alter anything until the return of the remainder of the quorum of the Twelve; but exhort them that they continue to build up the house of the Lord, which I have commanded them to build in Nauvoo.[A]
[Footnote A: Autobiography P. P. Pratt, p. 361.]
The keys had not been taken from Joseph—he is yet to stand on the earth and fulfill all that is appointed to him—the work which under God he had founded was to go on, is the significance of this message of the spirit.
A carping criticism may ask: How can Joseph Smith forever stand at the head of the dispensation of the fullness of times, never have the keys of authority thereof taken from him, and yet give those keys or oracles to another, "even to the church"—how can this thing be? It can be upon the same principle that God can give his power to men, even the priesthood, and yet not diminish aught from his own power: Upon the same principle that Jesus could say to Peter, "I give unto you the keys of the kingdom, and whatsoever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,"[A] and yet Jesus lose nothing in dignity of office, in authority, or the possession of keys. Upon the same principle that Peter, James and John, (whom John the Baptist declared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery possessed the keys of the priesthood of Melchisedek,) could give the keys of the priesthood of Melchisedek to Joseph Smith, and yet not strip themselves of them. So Joseph Smith could give the keys or oracles of the priesthood to the church and still hold them—giving the keys to the Twelve more especially, and yet stand in his place, without losing one iota of power ever conferred upon him. It is a case where the one possessing keys of power and authority can give and not diminish his own store; but even increase it more abundantly, being made richer the more he gives, when bestowing upon those who are worthy to receive such high things; even as God increases the ever widening circle of his own power by giving that power—the priesthood—to his faithful sons.
[Footnote A: Matt. xvi.]
It now remains for me to prove that the prophet Joseph did give the "oracles to another"—and that they remained with the church.
On the 7th of August, 1844, at a meeting of the Twelve Apostles, high council of the Nauvoo stake, and high priests, held in the Seventies' Hall, in a speech following one made by Sidney Rigdon, Brigham Young, speaking of the Twelve, said:
Joseph conferred upon our heads all the keys and powers belonging to the apostleship which he himself held before he was taken away, and no man or set of men can get between Joseph and the Twelve in this world or the world to come. How often has Joseph said to the Twelve, "I have laid the foundation and you must build thereon, for upon your shoulders the kingdom rests."[A]
[Footnote A: Hist. Joseph Smith,Mill. Star, Vol. XXV, p. 232.]
In his speech in behalf of the claims of the Twelve Apostles to lead the church, on that memorable day, the 8th of August, 1844, Brigham Young said:
I say unto you that the quorum of the Twelve have the keys of the kingdom of God in all the world.
. . . . You[A] cannot appoint a prophet; but if you will let the Twelve remain and act in their place, the keys of the kingdom are with them and they can manage the affairs of the church and direct in all things aright.[B]
[Footnote A: The saints.]
[Footnote B: History of Joseph Smith,Mill. Star, p. 215-6.]
Whence this confidence on the part of Brigham Young before the church to make so bold a declaration that the keys of the kingdom were still with the church—held more especially by the Twelve? It arose from the fact that the prophet Joseph had committed those keys to the Twelve.
Elder Woodruff, writing from Salem, Mass., under date of October 11th, 1844, at a time when the claims of Sidney Rigdon were still agitated, said:
Has the prophet Joseph found Elder Rigdon in his counsels when he organized the quorum of the Twelve, a few months before his death, to prepare them for their endowment? And when they received their endowment, and actually received the keys of the Kingdom of God, and the oracles of God, keys of revelation, and the pattern of heavenly things; and thus addressing the Twelve, exclaimed, "upon your shoulders the kingdom rests, and you must round up your shoulders, and bear it; for I have had to do it until now. But now the responsibility rests upon you. It mattereth not what becomes of me."[A]
[Footnote A:Times and Seasons, Vol. V, p. 698.]
That was when Wilford Woodruff was a young man; let us hear him forty-eight years' later, when he stood up under the weight of eighty-five years and in the presence of a large congregation said:
I remember the last speech that he [Joseph the prophet] ever gave us before his death. It was before we started upon our mission to the East. He stood upon his feet some three hours. The room was filled as with consuming fire, his face was as clear as amber, and he was clothed upon by the power of God. He laid before us our duty. He laid before us the fullness of this great work of God; and in his remarks to us he said: "I have had sealed upon my head every key, every power, every principle of life and salvation that God has ever given to any man who ever lived upon the face of the earth. And these principles and this Priesthood and power belong to this great and last dispensation which the God of heaven has set his hand to establish in the earth, "now," said he, addressing the Twelve, "I have sealed upon your heads every key, every power, and every principle which the Lord has sealed upon my head." And continuing he said: "I have lived up to the present time, I have been in the midst of this people and in the great work and labor of redemption. I have desired to live to see this temple [the Nauvoo temple] built. But I shall never live to see it completed, but you will. After addressing us in this manner he said: "I tell you the burden of this kingdom now rests upon your shoulders; you have got to bear it off in all the world, and if you don't do it you will be damned."[A]
[Footnote A: Remarks of President Woodruff following a discourse onPriesthood and the Right of Succession, by the writer in 1892.—SeeAppendix.]
The testimony of Wilford Woodruff in his youth is the same as in his old age; the same when a missionary in the eastern states traveling without purse or scrip, as when President of the church of Jesus Christ, honored and loved for his unswerving integrity and truth.
Under date of January 23rd, 1848, President Brigham Young, in a letter to Orson Spencer, President of the British Mission, informing him of the organization of the First Presidency of the church at Winter Quarters in 1848, said:—
Joseph told the Twelve, the year before he died, there is not one key or power to be bestowed on this Church to lead the people into the celestial gate but I have given you, showed you, and talked it over to you, the kingdom is set up, and you have the perfect pattern, you can go and build up the kingdom, and go in at the celestial gate, taking your train with you.[A]
[Footnote A:Mill. Star, Vol. X, p. 115.]
And now for a testimony from the "enemy's" camp that the Twelve were the proper persons to lead the church, after the prophet Joseph's death:
After mature and candid deliberation I am fully and satisfactorily convinced that Mr. Sidney Rigdon's claims to the Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, are not founded in Truth. I have been deceived by his specious pretences, and now feel to warn every one over whom I have any influence to beware of him, and his pretended visions and revelations.The Twelve are the proper persons to lead the church.[A]
NAUVOO, Dec. 9, 1844.
[Footnote A:Italicsare mine, R.]
[Footnote B:Times and Seasons, Vol. V, p. 742.]
This is that same William Marks who after this testimony became the associate of James J. Strang and subsequently was the chief man in ordaining "young Joseph" to be President of the church. He is a type of the character of men who founded the "Reorganized church."
This completes our direct testimony that the keys of authority and power held by the prophet Joseph were not taken from the earth by him, but that he had given them to another, "even to the church," the authority to exercise the powers thereof, after his death, more especially belonging to the Twelve as the highest general presiding quorum in the church in case of the absence, destruction or rejection of the First Presidency. Let it be remembered that all the keys of priesthood which the prophet Joseph held were given to the Twelve; and they from time to time, as occasions required, have given those keys of authority to other worthy men; and thus all the authority, keys of priesthood, and heavenly powers conferred upon the prophet Joseph have been preserved unto the church, and are with it to this day.
The array of testimony presented, taken in connection with the law of the church as given in the revelations of God, clearly demonstrates that the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was not disorganized at the death of the prophets Joseph and Hyrum; that such a thing was never contemplated in the work of God in this dispensation; and since the church has never been disorganized, any organization claiming to be the "Reorganized church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" is a counterfeit, and writes fraud in the very title of it.
Now that we draw to the close of our consideration of the claims of this "Reorganized church," we cannot point to its destruction as we have done in the case of Sidney Rigdon's church, William Smith's church and James J. Strang's church; for the Reorganized church still exists. But its doom is written as distinctly as that of the other false churches that we have seen crumble to pieces into shapeless heaps of ruin. It is only a question of time with regard to its failure. MENE, MENE, TEKEL, is written upon its walls—God hath numbered thy kingdom—weighed in the balances—found wanting!
If any man thinks he has influence among this people to lead away a party, let him try it, and he will find out that there is power with the Apostles which will carry them off victorious through all the world, and build up and defend the church and kingdom of God.[A]
[Footnote A: History of Joseph Smith,Mill Star, Vol. XXV, p. 216.]
There is yet another line of evidence to be adduced in support of the great truth that the church has never been disorganized in this dispensation, and therefore has never stood in need of a "reorganization."[A] That evidence is based upon the favor and blessing of God which has followed the church of Christ led by the Twelve Apostles from Nauvoo, and their successors in the leadership of the church.
[Footnote A: Josephites try to make it appear from a statement in the general epistle of the Twelve issued in 1847, to the effect that they were about to "reorganize" the church with a President and two counselors, that President Brigham Young and his associates considered the church disorganized, (see discourse by Alexander H. Smith.The Saints' Heraldsupplement of June 24th, 1893.) But it will be observed that the reorganization contemplated in the epistle of the Twelve is limited to reorganizing the First Presidency, the only quorum that was disorganized. For the same purpose, reference (see same discourse) is made to the re-baptism of the saints after their arrival in Salt Lake valley. But this was merely a renewal of covenants, which to make more impressive was accompanied by baptism; and neither reflected discredit on the first baptisms of the parties—from which is always reckoned the standing of the person in the church—nor carried any idea with it that the church had become disorganized.]
The first thing to be considered as indicating the favor of God which attended the church under the Presidency of the Twelve Apostles, is the fact that the church was held together through that trying period immediately following the martyrdom of the prophets Joseph and Hyrum. Though aspirants arose on every hand to usurp authority and deceive the saints, calm and unmoved stood the quorum of the Twelve, as watchmen upon the towers of Zion. They sounded a warning when danger arose; they reproved the saints with sharpness when moved upon by the Holy Ghost to do so; and members of their own quorum did not escape this reproof whenever pride or vain ambition or any other evil was seen in their conduct. The fear of man was taken from their hearts. Conscious of the rectitude of their own intentions, and strong in the favor of God, they neither trembled at the frowns of men in high places, nor fawned at the feet of those in power. With manly courage they put their trust in God, and sought only to do that which the inspiration of God dictated. The saints recognized in their deportment the conduct of true shepherds, ready to lay down their lives for the flock of Christ, and they trusted them implicitly.
Thus trusted by the saints the Twelve went on building upon the foundation laid by the prophet Joseph. They took steps to push the building up of Nauvoo, but their chief interest and their most strenuous efforts centered in completing the Temple and Nauvoo House. The work of God so well begun by Joseph Smith, instead of being retarded by his martyrdom, seemed to receive fresh impetus; as if the blood of the martyrs had already added new strength to the church. Men who had thought the whole of "Mormonism" was comprised in what they called the "genius" of Joseph Smith, looked on in astonishment as they saw the church become more firmly established after his taking off than while he lived. They soon began to see that Joseph Smith a martyr was more potent than Joseph Smith alive.
The quorums of the priesthood were greatly increased; the number of missionaries multiplied. Not only was the welfare of the church at Nauvoo the subject of the Apostles' care, but the branches scattered throughout the states of the American Union and Great Britain received their watchful attention.
The Temple was completed, many of the servants and saints of God received their washings, anointings and blessings therein, in fulfillment of the great desire of the prophet Joseph.
This accomplished, and mobocracy again raising its horrid front, to plague the church, the Twelve turned their faces towards the west; for they remembered that Joseph himself had prophesied that the saints would yet be driven to the Rocky Mountains, and there become a mighty people.[A] Isaiah, too, long centuries before this time, had declared that it should come to pass
[Footnote A: Under date ofAugust 6th, 1842, Joseph writes in his history: "I prophesied that the saints would continue to suffer much affliction, and would be driven to the Rocky Mountains, many would apostatize, others would be put to death by our persecutors, or lose their lives in consequence of exposure or disease, and some of you will live to go and assist in making settlements and build cities and see them become a mighty people in the midst of the Rocky Mountains."]
In the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.[A]
[Footnote A: Isaiah ii, 2.]
It gives evidence of divine inspiration in the Twelve that in the midst of their perplexities at Nauvoo, during the last year the church remained there, their hearts were inclined to lead the church of God to the place indicated as its abode in the last days, both by ancient and modern prophecy.
That great exodus of the church from Nauvoo, with the subsequent journey of the saints across the wilderness of Iowa and the great plains which form the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, is one of the most remarkable events in either ancient or modern history, when considered in the light of the circumstances under which it took place—a people well nigh stripped of all their worldly possessions, teams and wagons improvised with such animals and materials as in the hurry of their departure, under the menace of mob violence, could be gathered together;—indifferently clothed and provisioned for contact with the hardships inseparably connected with such an enterprise, and the lapse of time ere they could replenish their scanty stores;— making their way through an unexplored wilderness, a great part of which was desert;—seeking a destination a thousand miles from the frontiers of civilization;—absolutely without any base of supplies, trusting solely to the providences of God for their daily needs;— warlike tribes of Indians on every hand—and yet, under the direction of the Apostles, they accomplished the great enterprise with little loss of life, and in an incredibly short space of time!
This exodus and the subsequent settlement of the saints in the valleys of Utah, confirmed the greatness of President Young's genius in the minds of the men of the world, but to all who have an abiding faith in the divinity of the great work of God in the last days, it bears witness that the Lord was with President Brigham Young and his fellow Apostles, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit; and confirms the faith of the Latter-day Saints, that their leaders held divine authority, and were the proper men to preside over the church of Christ after the martyrdom, of the prophet Joseph.
Not only was the exodus from Nauvoo successfully executed, but the location of the Latter-day Saints in the Rocky Mountains was equally well carried out. Removing the church to Salt Lake valley resulted in founding commonwealths throughout the inter-Rocky Mountain region; for the saints settling in the mountains made it possible for others to establish homes there also; and it must be remembered that the Latter-day Saints have not only settled Utah but have formed extensive colonies in Idaho, Arizona, Wyoming and Colorado.
The church while in the eastern states never numbered more than three or at the most four stakes of Zion. But since coming to the west the stakes of Zion have increased to thirty-six, each with its high council, its high priests' quorum, its several elders' quorums, and stake organizations of Relief Societies, Improvement Associations for both sexes; and quite a number of the stakes have church academies where theology is made a leading feature of the curriculum.
Within these thirty-six stakes are about five hundred organized wards, presided over by bishops, who are assisted in their labor of preserving the saints in the faith, looking after the poor, and keeping down iniquity, etc., by local quorums of priests, teachers and deacons. In addition to all this, there are ward organizations of Relief Societies, Improvement Associations for both sexes, and Primary Societies for children. In each ward, also, is a Sunday School for the instruction of the youth. Throughout the stakes of Zion there are 504 Sunday Schools, with a total membership, including officers, teachers and pupils, of 72,519; in the libraries of the Sunday Schools are 23,541 volumes; and more than fifteen thousand dollars is expended annually in Sunday School work.
In the organized stakes the saints number about two hundred and fifty thousand; and though but few individuals among them can be considered wealthy, yet they are a prosperous, contented, and therefore a happy people. A greater per centage of them own the homes they live in and the lands they cultivate, than is the case with any other community in all the world; and they are freer than any other people on earth from those difficulties arising in the industrial world which embitter the relations of employer and employed. Peace is in their habitations; God is honored at the family altars, as well as in the public sanctuaries; faith and confidence in God abound on every hand, and everywhere one may see evidences that God is with the people. He has neither forsaken them nor their leaders, as He would have done had they turned away from His gospel, trampled His church under their feet, or blasphemed His priesthood by employing it to fleece the saints and aggrandize themselves.
Such is the condition of the work of God within the organized stakes of Zion—such are the results attained, the development as to organization, increase of numbers, and temporal and spiritual prosperity. But while this great work has been going on at the gathering places of the saints, the foreign work of the church has not been neglected. On the contrary the work of preaching the gospel to the world has been made to keep pace with the development of the work at the gathering places of the saints. Among the first acts of the Twelve after the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum was one to greatly increase the numbers of the seventies—the quorums of the priesthood which more especially constitute the foreign ministry of the church. At the October conference in 1844 the quorums of seventies were increased from two to ten. Since that time the seventies have been increased, until now[A] they number one hundred and seven quorums, comprising a body of seven thousand men, whose special calling it is to preach the gospel abroad. Josephites complain against the church for thus increasing the number of quorums of seventy; and mark it down as a violation of the order of the church, and quote as proof the following from the Doctrine and Covenants:
[Footnote A: 1894.]
And these seven presidents are to choose other seventies, besides the first seventy, to whom they belong, and are to preside over them; and also other seventy, until seven times seventy, if the labor in the vineyard of necessity requires it.[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. cvii, 95, 96.]
This they say limits the number of quorums to seven, and therefore no more than seven ought to be chosen. The prophet Joseph, however, when the first quorums of seventy were being organized said:
If the first Seventy are all employed, and there is a call for more laborers, it will be the duty of the seven Presidents of the first Seventy to call and ordain other seventy and send them forth to labor in the vineyard, until if needs be, they set apart seven times seventy, and even until there are one hundred and forty and four thousand thus set apart for the ministry.[A]
[Footnote A: Hist. Joseph Smith, under date of May 2nd, 1835.Mill.Star, Vol. XV, p. 261.]
Not only have the quorums designed to form the foreign ministry of the church been greatly increased, but they have been employed. Since the death of the prophet Joseph, in addition to maintaining the missions in those countries where proclamation of the gospel had been made during his lifetime, missions have been established in the following countries, and tens of thousands of the honest in heart gathered out of them: