Our friends have solemnly informed us there was "no blessing to the children of Hyrum Smith." I desire to call your attention to a few expressions in the blessing which I have just read. The promise is here given that the posterity of Hyrum Smith shall be numbered with the house of Ephraim and shall stand up with their father to crown the tribes of Israel when they come shouting to Zion. Now, how can they crown the tribes of Israel unless they hold the Priesthood and are faithful men? Again, the promise is made to them that they shall have an inheritance in Zion and possess it from generation to generation, and their names never were to be blotted out. Now, how could this be unless they were members of the Church holding the Priesthood? For the faithless and unbelieving and the apostate was not to be numbered in Zion, but his name was to be blotted out. I think you will agree with me that these gentlemen in their preface to these blessings spoke rather hastily of the children of Hyrum Smith.
I have here another blessing. This was given by the Prophet Joseph to his brother Hyrum December 18, 1833, at Kirtland, and is also recorded in the handwriting of Oliver Cowdery and is on file in the Historian's office, Salt Lake City. This blessing shows to us that the Prophet Joseph Smith recognized the fact that his brother Hyrum had received the birthright. He says:
"Blessed of the Lord is my brother Hyrum, for the integrity of his heart; he shall be girt about with strength, and faithfulness shall be the strength of his loins; from generation to generation he shall be a shaft in the hands of his God to execute judgment upon His enemies."
I will pause here. We are told that faithfulness shall be the strength of his loins. This is a figure. We all understand what it means. It means that the children of Hyrum Smith shall be faithful and from generation to generation shall be a shaft in the hands of God to execute His judgments. That is what it means!
But the blessing continues:
"And he shall be hid by the hand of the Lord, that none of his secret parts shall be discovered unto his enemies unto his hurt. * * * He shall stand in the tracks of his father, and be numbered among those who hold the right of Patriarchal Priesthood, even the Evangelical Priesthood and power shall be upon him. His children shall be many and his posterity numerous, and they shall rise up and call him blessed."
Here we have the Prophet acknowledging that his brother Hyrum should receive the birthright, for it was the right of Patriarchal Priesthood, even the Evangelical Priesthood that was conferred upon the first born, and not the office of President of the Church.
We learn from the Doctrine and Covenants that there are two offices in the Church that descend from father to son. One is that of the Bishopric, for upon Aaron and his sons the Lord conferred this Priesthood (section 68:16-18). The other is that of the Evangelist. This we learn in section 107, but our friends misconstrue this section and try to make it appear that it is the Melchizedek Priesthood that is meant.[2]
I will read it and you may judge for yourselves:
"It is the duty of the Twelve, in all large branches of the Church to ordain Evangelical ministers, as they shall be designated unto them by revelation.
"The order of this Priesthood was confirmed to be handed down from father to son, and rightly belongs to the literal descendants of the chosen seed, to whom the promises were made.
"This order was instituted in the days of Adam, and came down by lineage in the following manner," etc.