of his locomotive, with hand placed upon the lever, sheltered in the caboose, with peep-holes in front, on the right and on the left, and the crook of whose finger causes the whole train to move forward or back, or to switch off on the track of some new dogma, to which he lures on the unsuspecting passengers and precious freight, with the catchpenny whistle of 'Revelation!' which is most persistently sounded when he hears the restive murmurings of those who may catch but a premonitory glimpse of the awful precipice to which he is hurrying them on, as to a terrible and eternal destruction."
The motive-power is religious delusion, which is constantly applied by Brigham, who thus drives along the whole combination with fearful power.
"And in that train may be found all that makes up the hopes and fears, the joys and sorrows, the love and hatred, of that 'moral and physical phenomenon,' the Mormon Church,—not only here, but scattered throughout all Europe, and the 'Isles of the Seas,' who have ventured their all—their lives and fortunes, their bodies and souls—on the solution of that dearest of all problems to their minds, the ultimate triumph of the 'Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' (as it is blasphemously called) over all governments, powers, and principalities of earth!"
In reference to the organization of the church, and the functions of the respective priesthoods, the following is Brigham's own explanation of the whole matter. In this exhibit will be seen how little importance he attaches to the High Council.
Speaking of laying the corner-stones of the Temple, he says:—
"I am not a visionary man, neither am I given much to prophesying. When I want any of that done I call on Brother Heber,—he is my prophet; he loves to prophesy, and I love to hear him.
"Now, who do we set, in the first place, to lay the chief, the South-East corner-stone? We begin with the First Presidency, and the Apostleship. Who comes next in the church? The Bishop is the next standing authority in the Kingdom of God; therefore we set the Bishop at the second corner-stone of the
building. The Melchisedec Priesthood, with the altar, fixtures, and furniture, belonging thereto, is situated on the East, and the Aaronic Priesthood belongs on the West; consequently the Presiding Bishop laid the second corner-stone.
"The High-Priests' Quorum, do they come next in order? No, not any more than the Elders, nor the Elders any more than the High Council, nor the High Council any more than the Teachers, Deacons, or Priests. The High-Priests' Quorum is a standing quorum, abiding at home. So is the Elders' Quorum. But the place of the Bishop is in the temporal affairs of the church. So, then, what shall we say? Why, out of due respect to the High-Priesthood, which is nothing more than right and reasonable, we say to the High-Priests, 'Lay the third corner-stone.'
"We started at the South-East corner, with the Apostleship; then the lesser, Aaronic Priesthood, laid the second stone; we bring them in our ranks to the third stone, which the High-Priests and Elders laid; we take them under our wing to the North-East corner, which the Twelve and Seventies laid, and then again join the Apostleship. It circumscribes every other priesthood, for it is the Priesthood of Melchisedec, which is after the order of the Son of God."[119:A]