was one with the Father. Says He:
"For I came down from heaven,
not to do mine own will, but the
will of him that sent me." [John 6:38] This
union was never broken between
the Father and the Son. The first
revelation given to Joseph Smith
was that of the Father and the Son.
The heavens were opened, and the
Father, with His Son, appeared to
Joseph, in answer to his prayer,
and He pointed to His Son and said,
"This is my beloved Son; hear ye
him." [Joseph Smith-History 1:17] This is a peculiarity that I
have no recollection of ever being
manifest in any other age of the
world. Another peculiar feature
connected with this dispensation is
that the God of heaven has bestow-
ed upon almost all the male mem-
bers of the Church the Holy Priest-
hood.

This union was necessary between
God and the prophets and apostles
of old. Unless that union had ex-
isted between Him and His serv-
ants it could not have extended
throughout the children of Israel
or among the children of men.
It is also of vast importance to us in
this Church and kingdom. I will
say myself that I do not believe there
ever was a man, save Jesus Christ,
that was more closely united and
associated with God the Father, and
God the Son, and God the Holy
Ghost, than the Prophet Joseph
Smith. The power of revelation
was with him from the day that he
was called to receive the Priesthood
up to the time when he was martyr-
ed. The power of inspiration was
with him day by day. This is
plainly manifest in the revelations
contained in the Book of Doctrine
and Covenants. Whenever the
Lord felt disposed to reprove him,
Joseph Smith, through his own
mouth, had to reprove himself; and
he did not hesitate to give the word
of the Lord, though it was against
himself. He was united with the
Lord; he was united with the Holy
Ghost; he was united with the
angels in heaven, with Peter, James
and John and with John the Bap-
tist. He received the Priesthood
from under their hands. [Doctrine and Covenants 128:20] [Joseph Smith-History 1:72] Joseph
called twelve Apostles. Who were
they? The Lord said to him: "The
twelve are they who shall desire to
take upon them my name with
full purpose of heart; and if
they desire to take upon
them my name with full purpose of
heart, they are called to go into all
the world to preach my gospel unto
every creature." [Doctrine and Covenants 18:27-28] The history of
these twelve Apostles we are some-
what acquainted with. I have been
associated with the Apostleship for
over fifty years. I knew those men.
I knew their lives. When the
Prophet Joseph organized the
Quorum of the twelve Apostles, he
taught this principle of union to
them. He gave them to understand
that they must be of one heart and
one mind, and they must take upon
themselves fully the name of
Christ; that if God commanded
them to do anything they must
go and do it; that if they mar-
ried a wife they could not stay
at home three or four years to take
care of her if they were called
to go to the nations of the earth.

I myself started on a mission six
weeks after I was married, and I
was gone two or three years. So
with others of my brethren. It
mattered not what temporal work
we had to do, when we were called
to go abroad we had to go. This
was one of the requirements of the
Apostleship. We also had to be
united. We could not contend one
with another. If we did, the Spirit
of God would be withdrawn from
us, and we would receive chastise-
ment at the hands of the Lord.
Under the celestial law of the
Kingdom of God men must unite
together; men must love one
another; men must stand by this
Holy Priesthood and maintain the
powers of it while they dwell in the
flesh, in order to honor God and to
be prepared to receive their inherit-
ances in the world to come.

As I have said before, I have been
a member of the Quorum of the
Apostles for over fifty years. I bave [have]
been acquainted with its ups and
downs. I have been familiar with
the apostates. I have also been ac-
quainted with the union that has
existed. I can say that I never asso-
ciated with a class of men that ever
manifested the same love for one an-
other as the Apostles of the Church
have when they have been faith-
ful. Of course, we have seen days
of sorrow. After that first Quorum
was called of God; after they had
had the ministration of angels and
seen the power of God manifested,
some of them yielded to temptation.
They said, "We have served God
long enough, and now we are going
to serve ourselves." They stopped
praying and went to merchandising.
They stopped serving God, and took
a decided stand against the Prophet
whom God had raised up to lay the
foundation of this Church and
kingdom. What were the conse-
quences? It sent them to perdi-
tion. Their power fell like light-
ning from heaven. Their priest-
hood was taken from them, and
sealed upon the heads of other men.
It has remained so to this day, and
will, for all I know, to the endless
ages of etenrity. With all the light
they had, with all the power
they had, and with all the
manifestations they had from
God out of heaven, they
turned from these things and re-
jected them. Those were days of
sorrow to me and to those who re-
mained faithful; for one half of the
Quorum fell and turned against
Joseph. But the Lord was with
him. So was Brigham Young and
Heber C. Kimball and others of the
brethren of the quorum. They stood
by him; while others deserted him
and were cut off the Church, and
they to-day are in the Spirit world,
without the Priesthood, without
their crown, without their glory,
and without the celestial blessings
that were promised them on con-
dition of their faithfulness.

With this exception, the Quorum
of the twelve Apostles have been
united. We knew this was the work
of God. We knew the God of
heaven had laid this Apostleship up-
on our shoulders. We knew, as
Joseph Smith told us just before his
martyrdom, that if we did not round
up our shoulders and bear off this
kingdom we would be damned. No
man can receive this Apostleship;
no man can bear this Priesthood; no
man can be called to this important
calling, and then turn from it, with-
out condemnation or being cursed
by the hand of God. It matters not
what sacrifices God requires at our
hands in the building up of His
kingdom, we have got to meet these
things and trust in Him.

The Prophet Joseph, in his day,
consulted with the Apostles and
sought their views on important
matters and principles. He would
say, "I want you to tell me your
views and feelings about this, that
and the other." The agency which
God had given us was never taken
from us, either by Him or His
Prophet. We used to express our
feelings to the Prophet, and we did
so with all good conscience before
God. As a general thing our views
were alike; but if there was any-
thing in them different from what
Joseph considered was right, when
we got through he would tell us
thus and so. Then we did not stand
against that, but we united upon it.
One of the Apostles once brought
before the Prophet Joseph a very pe-
culiar kind of a system. Joseph
listened to him very patiently, and
when this brother got through he
says, "Brother Joseph, what do
you think of that?" "Why," says
he, "Brother ———, it is a beautiful
system, and I have only one fault
in the world to find about it."
"What is it?" "It is not true."
Of course, when a man gets up a
thing that is not true, he has to lay
it aside.

I want to say, for the comfort of
the Latter-day Saints, that God is
not going to fail anybody. He has
carried out His purposes in every
age and generation of men. As
Brother Snow said today, He raised
up old father Abraham to stand at
the head of the House of Israel, be-
cause he was a noble spirit. Before
he was born he occupied such a
position with God, in his agency,
that he was given supremacy here
on the earth. He stands at the
head of his posterity, and at the
head of Israel, and will
occupy that position forever.
The Lord is not going to
disappoint us. He has fulfilled His
work up to the present time; and
now comes the consummation, the
winding up scene, and the fulfil-
ment of all those prophecies and
revelations which God has given to
inspired men, who were moved
upon by the Holy Ghost. Those
revelations you and I are fulfilling.
Joseph Smith laid the foundation of
this work. He holds the key of the
Kingdom today, and will to the
endless ages of eternity. He has
passed and gone. Over twenty
Apostles have passed away. Those
who laid the foundation of this
work are now in the Spirit world.
But we are alive here, and have
yet a few days in which to work.
Today we have a Quorum of Twelve
Apostles. When men have died or
apostatized, others have been called
to fill their places. When the
Prophet Joseph was taken away,
President Young occupied his

was one with the Father. Says He: "For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." This union was never broken between the Father and the Son. The first revelation given to Joseph Smith was that of the Father and the Son. The heavens were opened, and the Father, with His Son, appeared to Joseph, in answer to his prayer, and He pointed to His Son and said, "This is my beloved Son; hear ye him." This is a peculiarity that I have no recollection of ever being manifest in any other age of the world. Another peculiar feature connected with this dispensation is that the God of heaven has bestowed upon almost all the male members of the Church the Holy Priesthood.

This union was necessary between God and the prophets and apostles of old. Unless that union had existed between Him and His servants it could not have extended throughout the children of Israel or among the children of men. It is also of vast importance to us in this Church and kingdom. I will say myself that I do not believe there ever was a man, save Jesus Christ, that was more closely united and associated with God the Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, than the Prophet Joseph Smith. The power of revelation was with him from the day that he was called to receive the Priesthood up to the time when he was martyred. The power of inspiration was with him day by day. This is plainly manifest in the revelations contained in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. Whenever the Lord felt disposed to reprove him, Joseph Smith, through his own mouth, had to reprove himself; and he did not hesitate to give the word of the Lord, though it was against himself. He was united with the Lord; he was united with the Holy Ghost; he was united with the angels in heaven, with Peter, James and John and with John the Baptist. He received the Priesthood from under their hands. Joseph called twelve Apostles. Who were they? The Lord said to him: "The twelve are they who shall desire to take upon them my name with full purpose of heart; and if they desire to take upon them my name with full purpose of heart, they are called to go into all the world to preach my gospel unto every creature." The history of these twelve Apostles we are somewhat acquainted with. I have been associated with the Apostleship for over fifty years. I knew those men. I knew their lives. When the Prophet Joseph organized the Quorum of the twelve Apostles, he taught this principle of union to them. He gave them to understand that they must be of one heart and one mind, and they must take upon themselves fully the name of Christ; that if God commanded them to do anything they must go and do it; that if they married a wife they could not stay at home three or four years to take care of her if they were called to go to the nations of the earth.

I myself started on a mission six weeks after I was married, and I was gone two or three years. So with others of my brethren. It mattered not what temporal work we had to do, when we were called to go abroad we had to go. This was one of the requirements of the Apostleship. We also had to be united. We could not contend one with another. If we did, the Spirit of God would be withdrawn from us, and we would receive chastisement at the hands of the Lord. Under the celestial law of the Kingdom of God men must unite together; men must love one another; men must stand by this Holy Priesthood and maintain the powers of it while they dwell in the flesh, in order to honor God and to be prepared to receive their inheritances in the world to come.

As I have said before, I have been a member of the Quorum of the Apostles for over fifty years. I have been acquainted with its ups and downs. I have been familiar with the apostates. I have also been acquainted with the union that has existed. I can say that I never associated with a class of men that ever manifested the same love for one another as the Apostles of the Church have when they have been faithful. Of course, we have seen days of sorrow. After that first Quorum was called of God; after they had had the ministration of angels and seen the power of God manifested, some of them yielded to temptation. They said, "We have served God long enough, and now we are going to serve ourselves." They stopped praying and went to merchandising. They stopped serving God, and took a decided stand against the Prophet whom God had raised up to lay the foundation of this Church and kingdom. What were the consequences? It sent them to perdition. Their power fell like lightning from heaven. Their priesthood was taken from them, and sealed upon the heads of other men. It has remained so to this day, and will, for all I know, to the endless ages of etenrity. With all the light they had, with all the power they had, and with all the manifestations they had from God out of heaven, they turned from these things and rejected them. Those were days of sorrow to me and to those who remained faithful; for one half of the Quorum fell and turned against Joseph. But the Lord was with him. So was Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball and others of the brethren of the quorum. They stood by him; while others deserted him and were cut off the Church, and they to-day are in the Spirit world, without the Priesthood, without their crown, without their glory, and without the celestial blessings that were promised them on condition of their faithfulness.

With this exception, the Quorum of the twelve Apostles have been united. We knew this was the work of God. We knew the God of heaven had laid this Apostleship upon our shoulders. We knew, as Joseph Smith told us just before his martyrdom, that if we did not round up our shoulders and bear off this kingdom we would be damned. No man can receive this Apostleship; no man can bear this Priesthood; no man can be called to this important calling, and then turn from it, without condemnation or being cursed by the hand of God. It matters not what sacrifices God requires at our hands in the building up of His kingdom, we have got to meet these things and trust in Him.

The Prophet Joseph, in his day, consulted with the Apostles and sought their views on important matters and principles. He would say, "I want you to tell me your views and feelings about this, that and the other." The agency which God had given us was never taken from us, either by Him or His Prophet. We used to express our feelings to the Prophet, and we did so with all good conscience before God. As a general thing our views were alike; but if there was anything in them different from what Joseph considered was right, when we got through he would tell us thus and so. Then we did not stand against that, but we united upon it. One of the Apostles once brought before the Prophet Joseph a very peculiar kind of a system. Joseph listened to him very patiently, and when this brother got through he says, "Brother Joseph, what do you think of that?" "Why," says he, "Brother ———, it is a beautiful system, and I have only one fault in the world to find about it." "What is it?" "It is not true." Of course, when a man gets up a thing that is not true, he has to lay it aside.

I want to say, for the comfort of the Latter-day Saints, that God is not going to fail anybody. He has carried out His purposes in every age and generation of men. As Brother Snow said today, He raised up old father Abraham to stand at the head of the House of Israel, because he was a noble spirit. Before he was born he occupied such a position with God, in his agency, that he was given supremacy here on the earth. He stands at the head of his posterity, and at the head of Israel, and will occupy that position forever. The Lord is not going to disappoint us. He has fulfilled His work up to the present time; and now comes the consummation, the winding up scene, and the fulfilment of all those prophecies and revelations which God has given to inspired men, who were moved upon by the Holy Ghost. Those revelations you and I are fulfilling. Joseph Smith laid the foundation of this work. He holds the key of the Kingdom today, and will to the endless ages of eternity. He has passed and gone. Over twenty Apostles have passed away. Those who laid the foundation of this work are now in the Spirit world. But we are alive here, and have yet a few days in which to work. Today we have a Quorum of Twelve Apostles. When men have died or apostatized, others have been called to fill their places. When the Prophet Joseph was taken away, President Young occupied his