Succession in the Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

by B. H. Roberts

IX.

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' Herald supplement 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 of August 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:

France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Italy, Switzerland, Jersey Islands, Hindostan, Malta, Cape of Good Hope, Mexico, among a number of Indian tribes in the Western States and Territories in the United States, Sandwich Islands, Samoa, Friendly Islands, New Zealand, Turkey, and the mission has lately been reopened in Palestine.

In a number of these countries periodicals have been published. This is the case in France, Germany, Switzerland and Denmark.

The Book of Mormon since the death of the prophet Joseph has been translated and published in the following languages:

French, German, Danish, Italian, Dutch, Welsh, Swedish, Spanish, Hawaiian and Maori.

It has also been translated but not yet published in Hindostanee and modern Hebrew. And thus the testimony of the Nephites to the great truths that the Lord is God, that Jesus is the Christ, and the gospel the power of God unto salvation to all those who believe and obey it, is being sent to all the world in well-nigh all the languages thereof by the church of Christ; and the saints are ridding their garments of the blood of this generation both by preaching the gospel by word of mouth and also by sending forth the written word.

The phase of the great Latter-day work which seemed most to occupy the attention of the prophet Joseph Smith in the last year of his life, was that which relates to the salvation for the dead. Of this he preached most frequently; often was it the subject of his correspondence, his whole mind seemed given to it. Elijah had visited him in Kirtland Temple and had restored the keys of the priesthood which "turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse." "Therefore," said Elijah, "the keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands, and by this ye may know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors."[A] No wonder then that this matter occupied his mind when the keys for the salvation of the dead were placed in his hands attended with all the responsibility that attaches thereto. Following are his views upon the greatness, importance and future prospects of this work for the dead:

[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov. Sec. cx.]

The earth will be smitten with a curse, unless there is a welding link of some kind or other, between the fathers and the children, upon some subject or other, and behold what is that subject? It is the baptism for the dead. For we without them cannot be made perfect; neither can they without us be made perfect. Neither can they nor we be made perfect, without those who have died in the gospel also; for it is necessary in the ushering in of the dispensation of the fullness of times, which dispensation is now beginning to usher in, that a whole and complete and perfect union, and welding together of dispensations, and keys, and powers, and glories should take place, and be revealed from the days of Adam even to the present time; and not only this, but those things which never have been revealed from the foundation of the world, but have been kept hid from the wise and the prudent, shall be revealed unto babes and sucklings, in this dispensation of the fullness of times.[A]

[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. cxxviii.]

And this is the work the prophet of God had in mind to do for all the generations of men from Adam to the present dispensation! No wonder it was the controling theme of both his tongue and pen; his meditation by night, his thought by day. And as a proof to the world that the keys of the priesthood which administer in these holy ordinances for the dead were committed to the Twelve and have been with the Presidency of the church from the days of the prophet until now, I point to the four magnificent temples reared by the saints in Utah to the name of the most high God—erected for the express purpose of performing this work which so burdened the mind of the prophet Joseph in the last year of his life.

Josephites of course profess a belief in this great feature of the work of God—in baptism for the dead and the sealing powers linking together all the dispensations that have been given to man, and all the families and kindred of the earth; but where are their temples in which this work is going on? Show me thy faith by thy works! Mr. Smith claims to have been ordained by his father to be President of the church, to have inherited his father's priesthood and office, but where, I ask, is the evidence that he has inherited his father's interest, anxiety, and activity in respect to his greater part of the work of the dispensation of the fulness of times—the work that touches the interests of the generations of men that are past as well as those that are now alive, or shall live in the generations to come? When Elijah's cloak fell from his receding form to the shoulders of Elisha, not only the material garment fell upon him, but also the spirit and the power of Elijah was upon Elisha, and he did the works of the departed prophet. So has it been with those who have succeeded to the Presidency of the church since the death of the prophet Joseph. Great as the work for the living has been since then, still greater has been the work for the dead; in proof of which I give the following information respecting the work done in the temples of God. The report from each temple dates from the commencement of work therein up to December 31st, 1893.[A]

[Footnote A: I am indebted to the Presidents and Recorders of the respective temples for the information here given.]

St. George Temple:

Baptisms for the dead……………………..264,158
Ordinations to the priesthood for the dead……43,753
Endowments for the dead……………………112,350

Logan Temple:

Baptisms for the dead……………………..239,480
Ordinations to the priesthood for the dead……43,433
Endowments for the dead……………………107,456
Sealings (husbands and wives) for the dead……30,072
Sealings (children to parents) for the dead……6,735

Manti Temple:

Baptisms for the dead……………………..157,989
Ordination to the priesthood for the dead…….28,076
Endowments for the dead…………………….67,062
Sealings (husbands and wives) for the dead……23,800
Sealings (children to parents) for the dead……4,449

Salt Lake Temple:[A]

Baptisms for the dead,……………………..21,750
Ordinations to the priesthood for the dead,……4,980
Endowments for the dead,…………………….3,643
Sealings (husbands and wives) for the dead,……3,700
Sealings (children to parents) for the dead,…….973

[Footnote A: Dedicated April, 1893, the report is for 8 months.]

The total number of baptisms for the dead,………683,377
Of ordinations to the priesthood,………………120,232
Of Endowments,……………………………….300,511
Of sealings (including wives and husbands and
children to the parents—3 Temples only reported,)..69,749

Let us consider another proof that the church led to the mountains of Israel under the Presidency of the Apostles is indeed the very church of Christ, and that it has never been disorganized, or lost the favor of God.

During his personal ministry on earth, Jesus said:

If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own, but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world therefore the world hateth you.[A]

[Footnote A: St. John, xv.]

Again he said:

Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy; for, behold, your reward is great in heaven; for in like manner did their fathers unto the prophets . . . . . Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you? for so did their fathers to the false prophets.[A]

[Footnote A: St. Luke vi.]

During the lifetime of the prophet Joseph from the first time he called upon the Lord when a mere lad, to the day he fell by the old well-curb at Carthage jail, pierced by the bullets of assassins, the adversary was ever upon the alert for his destruction. The hearts of the wicked were stirred against him, false priests combined both against him and the work which under God, he founded; officers of the law with false charges and unlawful warrants dogged his footsteps, mobs rose in acts of violence against him and his people; he was made acquainted with the tyranny of unjust judges, corrupt courts, and the gloom of the prison cell. He was made to feel that the world did not love him, that he was not of the world, that the Powers of Darkness hated the church of Christ. Since the death of the prophet Joseph, the same Powers which pursued him and the work he established have continued their hostilities against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is the elders of that church, not the elders of the Reorganized church, who have been hunted by mobs, and beaten for no other crime than calling men to repentance. It is the blood of the elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, not of the "Reorganized church," which today unavenged crimsons the soil of the states of Georgia, Tennessee and Mississippi.

It is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, not the "Reorganized church" which has been constantly assailed, despoiled of its property, its members driven into exile, hundreds thrust into prison, whole communities terrorized—and all this through the administrators of the government acting under a mistaken zeal created by the persistent misrepresentations of sectarian priests and religious bigots—some of our "friends" of high standing in the "Reorganization" joining in the hue and cry against the saints of God and aiding in the work of misrepresentation.

Yet all this has not retarded the work of God. It has gone steadily forward. The injustice that has been done the church is beginning to be recognized. Already the government has restored the personal property it confiscated. And as for the fines, imprisonment, and exile inflicted on so many of the saints during the past ten years, these things have only contributed to spreading abroad knowledge respecting the gospel and its restoration. The Lord has his own way of accomplishing his purposes. To the peasant shepherds on the hills of Judea, he sent the angels of heaven to testify of the birth of the Messiah; and doubtless the testimony of these men was sufficient to found faith in the minds of the people among whom they moved that the great hope of Israel was fulfilled—the Messiah was born. But the king as well as the peasant must have a testimony that the Son of God had come into the world; and hence from the far east wise men skilled in the knowledge of the heavenly bodies and their movements and their signs are brought to the court of proud King Herod, to testify that Messiah, the promised King and Redeemer of Israel is born.

Preaching without purse or scrip by the Twelve Apostles, and other servants of God, might answer all the purposes for spreading abroad a knowledge of the gospel among the common people. The gospel, however, was not designed for the poor and the lowly only; it is meant also for the rich and the proud among men. And when God would have it proclaimed to magistrates, rulers, governors, kings and emperors, he called his servant Paul and led him through such experiences, including mobbings, whippings, exile and imprisonment, as brought him in contact with the great and high ones of the earth. Not only before the judges and governors of Judea and the petty kings who visited them was the gospel preached, but, as there is good reason to believe, it was declared before the purple-robed Emperor of Rome. Through this means the kings of the earth learned the Christian story and the plan of salvation included in it. It was preached not only in the humble homes of the poor, but also in the marble palaces of the Caesars.

So in this dispensation of the fulness of times, the Lord has led his servants and his church through such experiences as will best make known the great work of the last days—the opening of the heavens and the committing of a dispensation of the gospel to the children of men.

Preaching the gospel without purse and scrip by the elders of the church has been a very successful method of making known the truth among men. There is something in it which goes right home to the hearts of the honest. It is a method, too, which has, in the main, built up the church so far. There are classes, however, as in the dispensation opened by the personal ministry of Messiah, that would never be reached by such a method. These are the rich and great, the proud and high, the judges, legislators, presidents and kings of the earth. How long, for example, would it be under the method of preaching the gospel without purse and scrip before the humble elders of the church working in that way would get a hearing before the president and his cabinet, not once but repeatedly? Or how long would it be under the aforesaid method of preaching before the House of Representatives, or the more aristocratic Senate of the United States would devote day after day to the consideration of Mormonism? How long would the elders be preaching without purse and scrip, though zealous as angels, before they could arrest the attention of the Supreme Court of the United States sufficiently to have the judges sit in solemn session, clad in all the vestments of their high office to listen to an explanation of "Mormonism?" I risk the assertion that such things could never have been attained by the elders preaching without purse or scrip. Yet such a remarkable hearing as hinted at above has been given to "Mormonism" in all these great divisions of the general government of the United States. And by becoming for many years a national question, it has been kept prominently before the world; and not only the masses have been aroused by the proclamation of its principles, but the attention of statesmen and rulers has been attracted to it, and to them, in a manner, the gospel has been preached. What though it hath been preached by some through envy and strife, to paraphrase the words of Paul? What then? Notwithstanding every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached and therein do the saints rejoice, yea, and they will rejoice; for they know that this shall turn to their salvation.[A] God hath not left himself without witnesses among the great ones of the earth; but ever and anon as they have heard about the truth and of the truth, in cabinet council, Senate chamber, legislative hall, the courts of kings and the palaces of princes—the spirit of God hath testified to their hearts that the gospel they heard preached, whether preached of strife or of good-will, was the truth of heaven, and for that testimony statesmen, judges, governors and kings shall give an account in the day of judgment to the God who gave it to them.

[Footnote A: The passage paraphrased will be found in Paul to the
Philippians i, 15-20.]

But what of all this? Why, where the lambs are the vultures are gathered together. The very violence towards the church of Christ on the part of hate-inspired men, moved upon by the spirit of him who in heaven rebelled against the truth of God and the priesthood, bears witness that the keys of the priesthood are still with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and hence Lucifer, through wicked men and in diverse ways, seeks its destruction. "Marvel not if the world hate you, it hated me before it hated you, if you were of the world the world would love its own!" And in the evidences of the hatred of the wicked for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints may be read the negative proof of their acceptance with God as his church.

My task is ended. I have taken two great prophecies of Brigham Young, prophet, seer, and President of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in his day, and traced out their fulfillment. The first prophecy—

All that want to draw away a party from the church after them, let them do it if they can, but they will not prosper—was proven to be true by a brief consideration of the rise and fall of the principal factions called into existence under the leadership of ambitious, wicked men. We have seen go to pieces upon the rock of President Young's inspired prediction Sidney Rigdon's church, William Smith's, James J. Strang's, and the organization, such as it was, founded by George Miller and Lyman Wight—none of them prospered. We have considered the claims of the Reorganized or Josephite church, built from the ruins of these other churches just enumerated. Its pretentions have been viewed from every standpoint, and are found lacking in every element of consistency and truth. Misconceptions of the work and laws of God constituted its foundation; and the folly, sophistry, ignorance and vain ambition of—to be charitable—mistaken men, comprise its superstructure!

We have taken the second part of President Brigham Young's inspired prophecy—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—and have found the truth of it demonstrated in the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The favor, blessing, power and glory of God have indeed attended the labors of the Apostles who led the Saints from Nauvoo, and the Presidencies of the church which succeeded them; of a truth there has been with those Apostles and their successors a power which has carried them off victorious through all the world, and built up and defended the church and kingdom of God.