CONFUSION—CHOOSING A LEADER.

THE Saints at Nauvoo were now as sheep without a shepherd. They had never contemplated such a crisis as this. That their Prophet would be taken from them had not entered their minds, although in the closing days of his career he had frequently spoken of his fate if again he should fall into the hands of his enemies. On the twenty-second of June, five days preceding his death, at the conclusion of the consultation with several of Nauvoo's leading citizens, and at which time it was decided that the safest thing for himself and Hyrum to do was to go West, he remarks in his journal: "I told Stephen Markham that if I and Hyrum were ever taken again we should be massacred, or I was not a Prophet of God."

When the cowardly appeal made to him by false friends to return to Nauvoo, after he had crossed the Mississippi on his way to the West, was under consideration by himself and a few friends, he said to his brother, Hyrum Smith: "Brother Hyrum, you are the oldest, what shall we do?" Hyrum replied, "Let us go back and give ourselves up, and see the thing out." "If you go back," replied the Prophet, "I shall go with you, but we shall be butchered." Then again, after it was determined to adopt the course suggested by Hyrum, and the party was on the way to the river where they were to take boats for the Nauvoo side, the Prophet lingered behind the rest of the party talking with O. P. Rockwell. Those in advance shouted to them to come on. Joseph replied, "It is no use to hurry, for we are going back to be slaughtered."

On arriving at Nauvoo, Hyrum, too, seemed to have been impressed with a sense of their approaching fate, for on the morning of the twenty-fourth of June, when the first start was made for Carthage, he read the following significant passage in the Book of Mormon, and turned down the leaf upon it:

And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord that he would give unto the Gentiles grace, that they might have charity. And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me, if they have not charity it mattereth not unto you, thou hast been faithful; wherefore thy garments are clean. And because thou hast seen thy weakness, thou shalt be made strong, even to the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my father. And now I * * * * bid farewell unto the Gentiles; yea and also unto my brethren whom I love, until we shall meet before the judgment seat of Christ, when all men shall know that my garments are not spotted with your blood.^[1]

I have already quoted the pathetic words of the Prophet on meeting Captain Dunn's company of militia four miles out from Carthage, when he said: "I am going like a lamb to the slaughter; but I am calm as a summer's morning; I have a conscience void of offense towards God and towards all men. I shall die innocent, and it shall yet be said of me—He was murdered in cold blood."

I have also related the circumstance of his lingering to look at his farm as he left Nauvoo for the last time, and clearly intimated that he would never see it again. But notwithstanding these very plain intimations concerning his approaching death, the Saints apparently could not comprehend them. They did not sense them; and when his death so sudden and pitiful did come, it scarcely seemed possible to them that it had taken place. They were unprepared for it, and, as I say, were now like sheep without a shepherd.

Sidney Rigdon, the Prophet's first counselor, was in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. He had removed from Nauvoo to Pittsburg, notwithstanding in a revelation^[2] from God he had been required to make his home in Nauvoo, and stand in his office and calling of counselor and spokesman to the Prophet. The truth is that from the expulsion of the Saints from Missouri in 1838-9, Sidney Rigdon had been of but little service either to the Church or to the Prophet as a counselor. He was a man of admitted ability as an orator, but lacked discretion; a man of fervid imagination, but of inferior judgment; ambitious of place and honor, but without that steadiness of purpose and other qualities of soul which in time secure them. In the early years of The Church he suffered much for the cause of God, but he also complained much; especially was this the case in respect to the hardships endured in Missouri, and subsequently of his poverty and illness at Nauvoo. This habit of complaining doubtless did much to deprive him of the Spirit of the Lord; for at times it bordered upon blasphemy. More than once he was heard to say that Jesus Christ was a fool in suffering as compared with himself! Having lost, in part at least, the Spirit of the Lord, his interest in The Church and its work waned, and after the settlement at Nauvoo he was seldom seen in the councils of the Priesthood. Moreover, it was known that he was in sympathy and even in communication with some of the avowed enemies of Joseph, among others with that arch traitor, John C. Bennett, who was plotting the overthrow of both Joseph and The Church. It was doubtless these considerations which led Joseph to make an effort to get rid of Sidney Rigdon as counselor at the October conference in 1843.

On that occasion the Prophet represented to The Church that such had been the course of Sidney Rigdon that he considered it no longer his duty to sustain him as his counselor. Hyrum Smith, however, pleaded the cause of his fellow-counselor, and so strongly urged the Saints to deal mercifully with Sidney Rigdon, that when the question of sustaining him was presented to the conference, the Saints voted in his favor. "I have thrown him off my shoulders, and you have again put him on me," said Joseph. "You may carry him, but I will not." And so confident was he that Sidney Rigdon would continue to fail in the performance of his duty, that he ordained Elder Amasa Lyman to succeed him, both as counselor and spokesman. "Some of the Elders did not understand how Elder Lyman could be ordained to succeed Elder Rigdon, as The Church had voted to try him another year. Elder Joseph Smith was requested to give an explanation. Why, said he, by the same rule that Samuel anointed David to be king over Israel, while Saul was yet crowned. Please read the sixteenth chapter of first Samuel. Elder Smith's explanation, though short, proved a quietus to all their rising conjectures."^[3]

Notwithstanding all his fair promises of amendment, Sidney Rigdon continued neglectful of his high duties, and if for a time his old-time enthusiasm revived—as it seemed to at the April conference following, it was as the flickering flame of a tallow dip only—not the steady rays of the ever-shining sun. He longed to return to the East; and notwithstanding the word of the Lord commanding him to make his home at Nauvoo, he frequently talked with Joseph about going to Pittsburg to live, and finally obtained his consent to go there, and take his family with him, and, as I said before, he was there when the martyrdom occurred.

William Law, who had been the Prophet's second counselor, was in open apostasy and rebellion against him. He had been and was the associate of a corrupt band of men bent on the destruction of the Prophet. Prompted by a spirit of mercy, the April conference of 1843 had passed without taking action against either William Law, or any of the other apostates; but on the eighteenth of April, at a council of the Priesthood, when six of the Twelve Apostles were present, William Law and several other apostates were excommunicated from The Church; and later William Law undertook the organization of a church after the pattern of the Church of Christ, but it was a miserable failure.

The Twelve Apostles were nearly all absent in the Eastern States on missions; and although messengers were sent to call them to Nauvoo immediately after the Prophet's martyrdom, it would be some time before they could arrive. So that it was a time of general anxiety and depression.

It was in the midst of such circumstances as these that Sidney Rigdon arrived in Nauvoo and demanded that he be appointed "guardian" of The Church. He ignored the members of the quorum of the Twelve who were in the city—Elders Willard Richards, John Taylor and Parley P. Pratt; he conferred with Elder William Marks, president of the stake of Nauvoo, and at once began agitating the question of appointing a "guardian" to The Church. He arrived in Nauvoo on Saturday, the third of August; next day he harangued the Saints, who assembled in the grove near the temple, upon the necessity of appointing a "guardian" to build up The Church to the martyred Prophet, and in the afternoon meeting urged William Marks to make a special appointment for the Saints to assemble on the following Tuesday for that purpose. Elder Marks was in sympathy with Sidney Rigdon, but for some reason he refused to make the appointment for Tuesday, but made it for Thursday, the eighth of August. This was a most fortunate circumstance, since a sufficient number of the Twelve to make a majority of that quorum arrived on the evening of the sixth, and, of course, they were in time to be present at the meeting to be held on the eighth. The day previous to that meeting, however—the seventh of August—the Twelve called a meeting of the high council and high priests, before which they called on Sidney Rigdon to make a statement of his purposes and relate the revelation he claimed to have received at Pittsburg, which prompted his journey to Nauvoo. In substance he replied that the object of his visit was to offer himself to the Saints as a "guardian;" that it had been shown to him in vision at Pittsburg, that The Church must be built up to Joseph the martyr; that all the blessings the Saints could receive would be through their late Prophet; that no man could be a successor to Joseph; that The Church was not disorganized, though the head was gone; that he had been commanded to come to Nauvoo and see that The Church was governed properly, and propose himself to be a "guardian" to the people.^[4]

To this Elder Brigham Young replied:

I do not care who leads this Church, even though it were Ann Lee; but one thing I must know, and that is, what God says about it. I have the keys and the means of obtaining the mind of God on the subject. * * * Joseph conferred upon our heads all the keys and powers belonging to the Apostleship which he himself held before he was taken away, and no man nor set of men can get between Joseph and the Twelve in this world or in the world to come. How often has Joseph said to the Twelve, I have laid the foundation and you must build thereon, for upon your shoulders the Kingdom rests.^[5]

The next day was the one appointed by Sidney Rigdon for The Church to assemble and choose a "guardian." The attendance was large, as intense interest had been awakened upon the subject to be considered. Sidney Rigdon addressed the assembly, setting forth his claim to the "guardianship" of The Church. He had full opportunity to present his case and for one hour and a half spoke without interruption; but despite his reputation as an orator, he failed to convince the Saints that he was sent of God.

As soon as Sidney Rigdon had closed his speech, Elder Brigham Young arose and made a few remarks. It was on that occasion that he was transfigured before the people, so that through him the Saints heard the voice and felt the presence of their departed leader. George Q. Cannon, who was present on that occasion, says:

If Joseph had risen from the dead and again spoken in their hearing, the effect could not have been more startling than it was to many present at that meeting, it was the voice of Joseph himself; and not only was it the voice of Joseph which was heard but it seemed in the eyes of the people as if it were the very person of Joseph which stood before them. A more wonderful and miraculous event than was wrought that day in the presence of that congregation, we never heard of. The Lord gave His people a testimony that left no room for doubt as to who was the man chosen to lead them. They both saw and heard with their natural eyes and ears, and the words which were uttered came, accompanied by the convincing power of God, to their hearts, and they were filled with the Spirit and with great joy. There had been gloom, and in some hearts, probably, doubt and uncertainty, but now it was plain to all that here was the man upon whom the Lord had bestowed the necessary authority to act in their midst in Joseph's stead. On that occasion Brigham Young seemed to be transformed, and a change such as that we read of in the scriptures, as happening to the Prophet Elisha, when Elijah was translated in his presence, seemed to have taken place with him. The mantle of the Prophet Joseph had been left for Brigham. * * * The people said one to another: "The spirit of Joseph rests on Brigham;" they knew that he was the man chosen to lead them and they honored him accordingly. * * * As far as our observation went (we were only a boy at the time) the people were divided into three classes from the time of the death of Joseph up to this meeting of which we speak. One class felt clearly and understandingly that President Brigham Young was the man whose right it was to preside, he being the president of the Twelve Apostles, and that body being, through the death of Joseph and Hyrum, the presiding quorum of The Church. Another class were not quite clear as to who would be called to preside, but they felt very certain that Sidney Rigdon was not the man. They did not believe that God would choose a coward and traitor to lead His people, to both of which characters they believed Rigdon had a claim. The third class, and we think its members were few, was composed of those who had no clear views one way or the other. They were undecided in their feelings. * * * With very few exceptions, then, the people returned to their homes from that meeting filled with great rejoicing. All uncertainty and anxiety were removed. They had heard the voice of the shepherd and they knew it.

In the journal of Elder William C. Staines, of that date, the following statement is recorded:

Brigham Young said: "I will tell you who your leaders or guardians will be. The Twelve—I at their head!" This was with a voice like the voice of the Prophet Joseph. I thought it was he, and so did thousands who heard it. This was very satisfactory to the people, and a vote was taken to sustain the Twelve in their office, which, with a few dissenting voices, was passed.

President Wilford Woodruff, describing the event, says:

When Brigham Young arose and commenced speaking * * * if I had not seen him with my own eyes, there is no one that could have convinced me that it was not Joseph Smith; and anyone can testify to this who was acquainted with these two men.^[6]

The remarks of Elder Young, during which he was transfigured before the people, closed the forenoon meeting. When in the afternoon The Church again assembled Elder Young addressed them at some length on the subject of appointing a leader for The Church, representing the claims of the Twelve as the quorum having the right to act in the absence of the late Prophet-President. Following are some quotations from a summary of his speech taken down at the time:

For the first time in my life, for the first time in your lives, for the first time in the Kingdom of God in the nineteenth century, without a prophet at our head, do I step forth to act in my calling in connection with the quorum of the Twelve, as Apostles of Jesus Christ unto this generation—Apostles whom God has called by revelation through the Prophet Joseph, who are ordained and anointed to bear off the keys of the Kingdom of God in all the world.

* * * If any man thinks he has influence among this people, to lead away a party, let him try it, and he will find out that there is a power with the Apostles, which will carry them off victorious through all the world, and build up and defend The Church and Kingdom of God.

* * * If the people want President Rigdon to lead them, they may have him; but I say unto you that the Quorum of the Twelve have the keys of the Kingdom of God in all the world. The Twelve were appointed by the finger of God. Here is Brigham, have his knees ever faltered? Have his lips ever quivered? Here is Heber,^[7] and the rest of the Twelve, an independent body, who have the keys of the Priesthood—the keys of the Kingdom of God—to deliver to all the world; this is true, so help me God. They stand next to Joseph, and are as the First Presidency of The Church.

* * * You must not appoint any man at our head; if you should, the Twelve must ordain him. You cannot appoint a man at our head; but if you do want any other man or men to lead you, take them and we will go our way to build up the Kingdom in all the world.

* * * Brother Joseph, the Prophet, has laid the foundation for a grand work, and we will build upon it; you have never seen the quorums built one upon another. There is an almighty foundation laid, and we can build a kingdom such as there never was in the world; we can build a kingdom faster than the devil can kill the Saints off.

Now if you want Sidney Rigdon or William Law^[8] to lead you, or anybody else, you are welcome to them; but I tell you in the name of the Lord, that no man can put another between the Twelve and the Prophet Joseph. Why? Because Joseph was their file leader, and he has committed into their hands the keys of the Kingdom in this last dispensation, for all the world; don't put a thread between the Priesthood and God.^[9]

Elder Amasa Lyman spoke in support of the Twelve; and then Sidney Rigdon was granted the privilege of speaking; he declined personally, but called on Elder W. W. Phelps to speak in his behalf. Elder Phelps, while evidently having some sympathy with Elder Rigdon, supported the claims of the Twelve. After further discussion Elder Young arose to put the question as to whether The Church would sustain the Twelve or Sidney Rigdon:

I do not ask you to take my counsel or advice alone, but every one of you act for yourselves; but if Brother Rigdon is the person you want to lead you, vote for him, but not unless you intend to follow him and support him as you did Joseph. * * * And I would say the same of the Twelve, don't make a covenant to support them unless you intend to abide by their counsel. * * * I want every man before he enters into a covenant, to know what he is going to do; but we want to know if this people will support the Priesthood in the name of Israel's God. If you say you will, do so.^[10]

Elder Young was then about to put the question to the assembled quorums as to whether they wanted Elder Rigdon for a leader, when, at the request of the latter, the question on supporting the Twelve as the presiding quorum in The Church was first put in the following manner:

Do The Church want, and is it their only desire, to sustain the Twelve as the First Presidency of this people? * * * If The Church want the Twelve to stand as the head of this Kingdom in all the world, stand next to Joseph, walk up into their calling, and hold the keys of this Kingdom—every man, every woman, every quorum is now put in order, and you are now the sole controllers of it—all that are in favor of this in all the congregation of the Saints, manifest it by holding up the right hand. (There was a universal vote.) If there are any of a contrary mind—every man and every woman who does not want the Twelve to preside, lift up your hands in like manner. (No hands up.) This supersedes the other question, and trying it by quorums.^[11]

This disposed of Sidney Rigdon. He had full opportunity to present his case before The Church. The Saints had full opportunity and liberty to vote for him had they wanted him for their leader; but they rejected him and sustained the Twelve.

Footnotes

1. Book of Mormon, Ether, Chap. xii.2. Doc. & Cov., Sec. cxxiv, 103-106.3. Tract on Sidney Rigdon, by Jedediah M. Grant, pp. 15, 16.4. History of Joseph Smith, Millennial Star, Volume xxv, page 215.5. History of Joseph Smith, Millennial Star, Volume xxv, page 215.6. The above remark of President Woodruff's is taken from a testimony of his following a discourse on the subject of Priesthood and the right of succession, delivered by the writer.—Deseret Evening News, March 12, 1892.7. Heber C. Kimball.8. William Law had been a counselor to the Prophet Joseph, but was found in transgression and apostasy, had been excommunicated, and was among those who brought about the martyrdom at Carthage.9. Millennial Star, volume xxv: pages 216, 231-32-33.10. Millennial Star, volume xxv: page 264.11. That is, whether The Church wanted to have Sidney Rigdon for a "guardian" or leader.