Remarks

My brethren and sisters, this meeting is one of the sorrowful meetings in my experience. I have recognized the fact that there must be an explanation made to the Latter-day Saints in connection with the subject upon which the President of the Church and the President of the Church and the President of the Council of the Apostles have treated. I fully understand that within three days after Brother Moses Thatcher declined to sustain his associates he would have been dealt with for his fellowship and standing in the Council of the Apostles but for his physical condition. All have felt exceedingly tender, recognizing the fact that he had been suffering for some time under conditions most unpleasant to himself. I am fearful that the Saints this afternoon have not fully heard the remarks that have been made by President Woodruff and President Snow. They have sought to explain to the understanding of this audience the condition that has arisen in this inner circle of the Church, that they might be free in the minds of the Saints from the charge by the Saints of fearfulness as to the correctness of the position that they have assumed and of the rightfulness of the position that Brother Thatcher has taken. I believe, however, that the Latter-day Saints as a whole, have read with certainty, through the influence of the Spirit, the correctness of the position taken by the Presidency of the Church as well as the other councils that have been united with them, and I trust that the understanding will be received by those who are here today and heard the remarks of the brethren, and by those who could not catch their words the spirit in which those utterances were given. ¶

The Presidency of the Church and the Council of the Apostles, in their deliberations upon all questions that affect the wellbeing and interest of the cause, are as candid and frank in their consultations and expression of views as any body of men could possibly be. But when a conclusion has been reached as to the course that should be pursued, it is expected that every man will give in his adherence to the course marked out, and with unfaltering voice and fixed determination, so that those counsels may prevail, so far as may be possible, among the whole people. This feeling and sentiment has been expressed in telling language by President Woodruff and by President Lorenzo Snow; and I believe that every one of the Council of the Apostles, with the First Presidency, would make a similar expression of views upon this matter, were they to speak upon this subject. ¶

It is not my thought, in the time that I am here, to dwell upon the position in which our brother finds himself. I have held the hope, I hold the hope now, that he will see his way clear to put himself in unison with his associates, that he may stand with them and receive in the end the commendation of our Father, through his humility, and that his name may not be effaced from the roll of honor which God in this dispensation and in this day has established. It is not for me to speak further upon this subject. I stand by my President and by the Presidency of this Church in the position they have taken, because I know they are right. It is not a question of fear or doubt in my mind. It may be—and I presume my brethren will bear me out in this—that I have been slower than any of them to form judgment or pass an opinion in regard to this situation as it is today. But it has not been because there was the least doubt or question in my mind of the correctness of the position that they had taken. My judgment has concluded that their position was absolutely correct, or I never would have subscribed my name to that document, nor would I, in connection with my brethren, have sought in various ways to awaken a class of reflections in the mind of our brother that would have brought him in unison with the council of which he is a member. My position has been such that I have felt the extremest delicacy, in every place and under every circumstance, in giving expression to anything that could in any sense reflect upon him. For this reason, if no other, in the midst of the deliberations of my own council with that of the Presidency of the Church, I have felt extremely guarded, seeking to gain as much time as practicable in his interest, trusting that the time would come when the Almighty would touch his heart and he would feel the spirit of kindness that has welled up in the soul of President Woodruff, that has guided his counselors and that has been the characteristic in every deliberation of President Snow in seeking to preserve one who was dear to us all. But there can be no question in the minds of the Latter-day Saints. There may come a time in all our lives when perchance, amid the temptations and allurements of ambition, our hope and fears for ourselves may be aroused; but in our sober senses and in the midst of the experiences of this life, the men who have received the Apostleship, who have been chosen by God Himself to be witnesses to His Son, must find themselves in that position that they indeed listen to the still, small voice and recognize the power which God himself has established. I feel that this has been and is the position of that circle in which I move; and the unfortunate circumstances which have attended one of their associates in connection with this matter, is to me indeed a matter of extreme regret. I have prayed, I have plead, I have done everything so far as lay in my power in connection with these circumstances, trusting that our Father might so move upon the heart of our brother that he would meet his brethren with a broken heart and a contrite spirit and say, "I am with you heart and soul." ¶

During this Conference, my brethren and sisters, the spirit of inspiration resting upon the brethren has been, give ear to the legitimate and proper counsels of the Priesthood. I presume there are none of us who have made a study of the organization that our Father has established that can question the wisdom of those counsels. If the people are to be united, it must be upon the basis that their hearts are in attune with the propositions upon which they would be united. We believe that God in this dispensation has restored the Gospel; that the Father and the Son came to the Prophet and bestowed upon him the knowledge that God did indeed live, and that Jesus Christ was indeed His Son; that all the keys, powers and authorities necessary to the accomplishment of His work, and that were exercised in former dispensations, were given to him; and that in all these things and in the organization of His Church. He presented us a complete and perfect pattern, that union might be the result of their counsels and their action. We note the conditions of that organization in all its hearings, and when one of the cogs in this machine that God himself has established shall fail to be in attune with the balance of that machine, the results are manifest in the spirits of the people; for they read, and read understandingly under the influence of that Spirit, that these conditions do exist and that the machinery is not working as it should. Therefore we, recognizing the purpose and design of our Father in the completeness of that organization, keep in view the movements and actions of the men at the head, the spirit of their counsel and instruction, and we readily detect, while words may not speak it, the spirit of insubordination or a determination do not carry out and fulfill the obligations which our Father has placed upon His children; and recognizing this, a spirit of uncertainty, of fear and of doubt takes possession of many men whose minds are susceptible to that influence. ¶

I trust that the spirit of the work shall indeed ever be with the Latter-day Saints; that the movements that are made, the efforts that are brought to pass to secure the best interests of the work and of its spread in the world, shall be written in the hearts of the people of God; and if they will attend to their prayers and fulfill their obligations, our Father will never allow one of them to drift from the path of rectitude and fail to maintain the honor and credit of His cause in the world. But if perchance a spirit shall take possession of us that we seek to avoid the responsibilities that may attach to us, and we desire the encomiums and the laudations of men, we may find ourselves carried away with our ambitions, and catching our foot upon the applause of our fellows, will trip and fall and will not be found carrying the standard and proclaiming the truth as we should in the presence of all men. ¶

I desire to bear my testimony to the truth of the work of God. I did not live in the flesh to know Joseph Smith. I did not live in the flesh to converse with him. The line, I presume, in broken when you reach me in the Council of the Apostles, as to those who knew him. But I am here as much of a witness of his mission as my brethren who saw him in the flesh. God gave me the knowledge of his mission. He also gave me the acquaintance of Brigham Young in the flesh, whom He raised up as well as the Prophet Joseph, to plant the standard of eternal truth in these mountains and to be a savior to this people whom he led into the desert, taught the ways of husbandry and the responsibilities and duties of the people of God. May the spirit of that Gospel well up in our hearts, and the knowledge that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, that Joseph Smith was His prophet, that John Taylor was His prophet, that Wilford Woodruff is His prophet, live in our hearts, and grow and spread until we shall scatter that knowledge to the ends of the earth and all mankind know of its truth. ¶