"I will give you a key which Brother Joseph Smith used to give in Nauvoo. He said that the very step of apostasy commenced with losing confidence in the leaders of this Church and kingdom, and that whenever you discerned that spirit, you might know that it would lead the possessor of it on the road to apostasy. * *
"No man or woman can have the spirit of prophecy and at the same time do evil and speak against their brethren; and you will find that man or that woman barren and unfruitful in the knowledge of God, and filled with disputations."
Next come some reminiscent allusions, coupled with a prophecy:
"How much would you give for even a cane that Father Abraham had used, or a coat or ring that the Savior had worn? The rough oak boxes in which the bodies of Joseph and Hyrum were brought from Carthage, were made into canes and other articles. I have a cane made from the plank of one of those boxes, so has Brother Brigham and a great many others, and we prize them highly and esteem them a great blessing. I want to carefully preserve my cane, and when I am done with it here I shall hand it down to my heir, with instructions to him to do the same.[A] And the day will come when there will be multitudes who will be healed and blessed through the instrumentality of those canes, and the devil cannot overcome those who have them, in consequence of their faith and confidence in the virtues connected with them. * * * *
[Footnote A: This cane is now in the possession of Bishop Abram A.
Kimball, who testifies that healing virtues attach to it.]
"If I had those relics of Abraham and the Savior which I have mentioned, I would give a great deal for them. In England when not in a situation to go, I have blessed my handkerchief and asked God to sanctify it and fill it with life and power, and sent it to the sick; and hundreds have been healed by it; in like manner I have sent my cane. Dr. Richards used to lay his old black cane on a person's head and that person has been healed through its instrumentality, by the power of God. I have known Joseph hundreds of times to send his handkerchief to the sick, and they have been healed. There are persons in this congregation who have been healed by throwing my old cloak on their beds."
This of the Church organization in heaven:
"When you go into heaven, into the celestial world, you will see the Church organized just as it is here, and you will find all the officers down to the Deacon. Our Church organization is a manifestation of things as they are in heaven, and you are all the time praying that the Church here may be brought into union and set in order as it is in heaven."
CHAPTER LXV.
GEMS FROM HEBER's WORDS CONTINUED—HIS STRIKING VIEW OF TIME AND
ETERNITY—HIS WORDS AND WORKS AT THE LAST CONFERENCE PRECEDING HIS
DEATH—HIS LAST SERMON.