to their nets, that instead of pur-
suing the high ealling [calling] of "fishers
of men," that they again become
common fishermen. They compre-
hended not the words of the Savior
to them. But after his death, he
appeared to them, and they began
to understand then what he had
previously told them. We did not
understand either what
meant when he told us he was going
to be taken away. But so it was,
and when it came, we knew too well
his meaning, for sorrow and gloom
rested upon all Israel. The question
may be asked, Why was this neces-
sary? There may be more than one
reason; one, however, is, the dis-
pensation already ushered in is the
dispensation of the fullness of times;
and like preceding ones, the men
who have been called upon to open
them up, had to seal their testimony
with their blood, Joseph had to do
the same. But those who took his
life, and those who assented to it,
will have to pay the bill. He held
the keys of the Priesthood, and had
a work to perform in the spirit world,
as Jesus had. When he was put to
death, and while his body lay in
the tomb, he went to the spirit
world to introduce the Gospel to the
spirits there, that they might have
the opportunity of either receiving
or rejecting it, and be judged ac-
cording to men in the flesh. And
it will be the privilege of every son
and daughter of , sometime
of their life, either in the body or
in the spirit, to hear the glad
tidings of great joy proclaimed to
them, for God is just and is no
respector of persons. Joseph, then,
standing at the head of this dispen-
sation holds the keys of the Priest-
hood pertaining to this time, and it
was a duty that the God of heaven
required of him to open up the
Gospel to those in the spirit world
who had not received it. And
there is no greater duty resting
upon the Latter-day Saints to-day
than that of building Temples, and
officiating therein for the dead as
well as the living. Said , in
support of this doctrine, "Else
what shall they do which are bap-
tized for the dead, if the dead rise
not at all? Why are they then
baptized for the dead?" [1 Corinthians 15:29] There is
no doubt or obscurity in the minds
of the Latter-day Saints respecting
this principle, it has been made
plain unto our understanding by
the light of revelation. The Ad-
versary, well knowing the nature
and importance of the mission of
this Prophet of God, put it into the
hearts of wicked men to kill him,
and in taking his life they thought
they were putting an end to "Mor-
monism." They reasoned from
their human standpoint, for such
might have been the case if this
work were the creation of man. But
the hand of God was over him and
the work that he established, and
it is his work and he directs it, and
those who want to find fault with
it, or any part of it, should enter
complaint against God, for he is its
Author; we are merely the instru-
ments in his hands in carrying it on.
After the martyrdom of our be-
loved Prophet, the Twelve Apostles
stepped forward, in the magnitude
of their calling, and assumed the
Presidency of the , and, as
a Quorum, they led it, with Pre-
sident as President of that
Quorum, for several years before
there was an organization of the
First Presidency; and when this
organization was effected, with Brig-
ham Young as President of the
Church, he continued to preside for
the space of thirty-three years, un-
til the time of his death, notwith-
standing the combined efforts of the