Outlines of Ecclesiastical History

by B. H. Roberts

4. Succession of the Twelve on the Death of President Young.—On the 4th of September, 1877, the two counselors of the late President Young and ten of the Twelve Apostles—Orson Pratt and Joseph F. Smith, the other two members, were absent in England—held a meeting and waited upon the Lord. With humble, contrite and saddened hearts they earnestly sought to learn his will concerning themselves and the church. The Lord blessed them with the spirit of union, and revealed to them what steps should be taken, and the following is what was done: Elder Taylor was unanimously sustained as the president of the twelve; and with the same unanimity it was voted that the twelve apostles should be sustained as the presiding authority in the church, while the counselors to the late President Young, John W. Young and Daniel H. Wells, were sustained as one with, counselors to, and associated with the twelve apostles. To facilitate the transaction of business it was also voted that for the time being President Taylor should be assisted by John W. Young, Daniel H. Wells and George Q. Cannon, in attending to business connected with the temples, the public works and other financial affairs of the Church.—Life of John Taylor.

5. John Taylor.—There was a beautiful harmony in the character of his mind and the lineaments of his person. If the habitation was splendid, the inmate was worthy of it. His noble form and bearing were but the outward expression of the spirit within. A universal benevolence, powerful intellect, splendid courage, physical as well as moral, a noble independence of spirit, coupled with implicit faith and trust in God, a high sense of honor, unimpeachable integrity, indomitable determination and passionate love of liberty, justice and truth marked the outlines of his character.—Life of John Taylor.

6. The Discontinuance of Plural Marriage.—The clause in President Woodruff's manifesto which discontinued plural marriage is as follows: "Inasmuch as laws have been enacted by Congress forbidding plural marriages, which laws have been pronounced constitutional by the court of last resort, I hereby declare my intention to submit to those laws, and to use my influence with the members of the church over which I preside to have them do likewise. * * * And I now publicly declare that my advice to the Latter-day Saints is to refrain from contracting any marriage forbidden by the law of the land."

Following is the resolution presented to the semi-annual conference in the October following. It was presented by Lorenzo Snow, the president of the twelve apostles:—"I move that, recognizing Wilford Woodruff as the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the only man on the earth at the present time who holds the keys of the sealing ordinances, we consider him fully authorized by virtue of his position to issue the manifesto which has been read in our hearing, and which is dated September 24, 1890; and that as a church in general conference assembled, we accept his declaration concerning plural marriage as authoritative and binding." The vote to sustain the foregoing motion was unanimous.

7. Basis on which the Manifesto was Issued.—Verily, verily I say unto you, that when I give a commandment to any of the sons of men, to do a work unto my name, and those sons of men go with all their might, and with all they have to perform that work, and cease not their diligence, and their enemies come upon them and hinder them from performing that work; behold, it behooveth me to require that work no more at the hands of those sons of men, but to accept of their offerings. [Revelation given 19th Jan., 1841, Doc. and Cov., sec. cxxiv.] It is on this basis that President Woodruff has felt himself justified in issuing this manifesto. * * * We have waited for the Lord to move in this matter, and on the 24th of September, President Woodruff made up his mind that he would write something, and he had the spirit of it. He had prayed about it and he had besought the Lord repeatedly to show him what to do. At that time the spirit came upon him, and the document that has been read in your hearing was the result. I know that it was right, much as it has gone against the grain with me in many respects. * * * But when God speaks and when God makes known his mind and will, I hope that I and all Latter-day Saints will bow in submission to it.—Geo. Q. Cannon, in a sermon Oct. 6th, 1890.

I want to say to all Israel that the step which I have taken in issuing this manifesto has not been done without earnest prayer before the Lord. * * * I have done my duty, and the nation of which we form a part must be responsible for that which has been done in relation to that principle [plural marriage.]—President Woodruff, in a sermon Oct.6th, 1890.

8. Testimony from God Promised that the Manifesto was Inspired.—I have received a revelation and commandment from the Lord, which I have not revealed to any man, which I shall reveal to this assembly, and the command of the Lord I shall give to this people, which is this: The Lord has revealed to me that there are many in the church who feel badly tried about the manifesto, and also about the testimony of the presidency and apostles before the master in chancery. The Lord has commanded me to put the following question to the Saints, and those who will give strict attention to it shall have the Holy Ghost to be with them to inspire them to answer that question for themselves, and the Lord has promised that the answer will be to all alike. The question is this: which is the wisest course for the Latter-day Saints to pursue—to continue to attempt to practice plural marriage with the laws of the nation against it and the opposition of 60,000,000 of people, and at the cost of the confiscation, and loss of all the temples, and the stopping of the ordinances therein, both for the living and the dead; and the imprisonment of the first presidency and the twelve, and the leaders of heads of families in the church, and the confiscation of the personal property of the people (all of which of themselves would stop the practice) or after doing and suffering what we have through our adherence to this principle, to cease the practice and submit to the law, and through doing so leave the prophets, apostles and fathers at home, so that they can instruct the people and attend to the duties of the church, and also leave the temples in the hands of the Saints so that they can attend to the ordinances of the gospel, both for the living and the dead? Now the inspiration of the Lord will reveal to any person which course wisdom would dictate us to pursue. And the Latter-day Saints throughout all Israel should understand that the first presidency of the church and the twelve apostles are led and guided by the inspiration of the Lord, and the Lord will not permit me nor any other man to lead the people astray.—President Woodruff, at Box Elder quarterly conference, Oct. 25th. 1891. Juvenile Instructor, vol. xxvi: p. 671.

9. Sign of the Coming of Messiah.—I have asked the Lord concerning his coming; and while asking the Lord, he gave me a sign and said: "In the days of Noah I set a bow in the heavens as a sign and a token that in any year that the bow should be seen the Lord would not come; but there should be seed time and harvest during that year; but whenever you see the bow withdrawn, it shall be a token that there shall be famine, pestilence and great distress among the nations, and that the coming of the Messiah is not far distant. * * Jesus Christ never did reveal to any man the precise time that he would come."—Joseph Smith.

REVIEW.

1. Relate the circumstances connected with the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith.