Editor’s Table: Long Live the Prophet

EDITOR^S TABLE.

LONG LIVE THE PROPHET.

— "The King is dead long live the King!" — The Prophet is dead long live the Prophet! The former of these exclamations is the cry and response that goes through the land when a British monarch dies. "The king is dead!" and the response that immediately follows, "Long live the king!" is to give the assurance that the succeeding ruler has taken his place, that the succession is immediate, instant, that for no one moment is England without a constitutional ruler. It. is thought by those who favor the monarchial form of gov-

ernment, to be an excellent feature of the British constitution, this instant succession of the kings of the nation. It gives no opportunity for usurpers to seize the throne, and allows no interregnum in which factions and claimants may arise. No doubts exist in the minds of the subjects as to the succession. It is all pre-arranged,

governed by well established law which the subjects understand as; well as the rulers, and the nation glides from the one administration to another without friction, without halting; and doubtless among the few things that can be said for monarchial government this is one of the best. — But why say, "The Prophet is dead long live the Prophet?" Because the succession in the prophetic office, and presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is just as immediate, just as well assured as it is in the kingdom of Great Britain. The Prophet is dead; but there is not an instant that the

Church is without a prophet; for no sooner does the Prophet-President take his departure, than his mantle falls upon the shoulders of his successor. There is not a single moment, when the Church is regularly organized, that the Lord does not have open the authoritative channel through which to communicate His will to the body religious. In the Church the Lord has provided that, "Of the Melchisedek Priesthood, three Presiding High Priests, chosen by the body, appointed and ordained to that office, and upheld by the confidence, faith, and prayer of the church, form a quorum of the Presidency of the Church." And after them, " The Twelve Counselors are called to be the

Twelve Apostles, or special witnesses of the name of Christ in all the world. * * * * ^^^j ^j^gy form a quorum equal in authority to the three presidents previously mentioned." And then again, " The seventy are also called to preach the Gospel, and to be especial witnesses to the Gentiles and in all the world. * * * * And they form a quorum equal in authority to the Twelve Special Witnesses or Apostles just named." Since the authority and power of the Twelve Apostles is equal to the authority and power of the First Presidency, it must follow that anything which the First Presidency could have done when in existence can be done by the Quorum of Twelve Apostles; and hence they can preside over the Church; and as the senior member of that council is always the president of the Quorum, it follows that so long as the Quorum of the Twelve are acting as the Presidency of the Church, he stands at their head and is God's mouth-piece to the Church, and through him will be communicated the mind and will of God to the people; for he is the Prophet and Seer and Revelator to the Church, and whenever the First Presidency is to be re-established it will be through him that the will of the Lord will be made known, and God's prophet and mouth-piece and president of the Church chosen. This beautiful arrangement, now so well known in Israel, provides against all confusion; protects the Saints against all liability of being deceived; gives no opportunity to usurpers; no occasion for factions; no disturbance of the tranquillity of the Church; and at the same time it makes the succession of our prophets instant.

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Hence it comes to pass that President Lorenzo Snow, to the joy of all the Saints, chosen by the Apostles at their special meeting on the 13th of September to be the President of the Church, and sustained in that position by the Saints in general conference of the Church on the 9th of October, glides into his position without confusion, without excitement, without a doubt as to the legality of his succession, and around him gather the Saints with their hearts full of love and confidence and knowledge that he is the prophet of the living God. And while we remember with a sweet sorrow the departure of the late beloved president, Wilford Woodruff, we turn to his successor and with joy unspeakable say, "Long live the Prophet."

In publishing Volume I., great success has attended the efforts of the General Board. The enterprise has been successful financially, and from the liberal patronage and praise bestowed upon the Era, we are led to believe that it has been equally successful in obtaining a literary standing. That it has been a means of great assistance to the officers of the Improvement Associations we have abundance of evidence. Stake superintendents and presidents of associations in all parts of Zion have expressed their appreciation of the help it has been to them in that it has been a medium through which they have received instruction from the General Superintendency and Board of Aids; while the literature it has contained has been of immense value both to the young men of Zion at home and the Elders who are traveling and preaching the Gospel abroad. All this

is especially gratifying to the editors and managers, and leads them to form a determination that for the future the organ of the Young Men's Associations shall be made to contribute more and more to the welfare of this institution. It will be made more and still more indispensable to the officers of associations, until it shall come to be recognized as impossible to successfully conduct association work and keep in touch with the development of it without being in possession of the information and counsel and instruction to be found from time to time in its pages; while the scope and quality of the

literature it shall publish will make it a magazine of general interest to all people. In Volume L, by a series of special articles, the Era became noted as a magazine that kept abreast with the times. These articles included a consideration of the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands, written by Professor Cluff as the result of his visiting the islands and holding a series of meetings with the natives of that country; ascertaining their views concerning the annexation of Hawaii to the United States. The condition of affairs in war-swept Cuba was described by Congressman King, who personally visited the island previous to the American declaration of war. The death of the great English Statesman furnished the occasion of an extended biographical sketch of William Ewart Gladstone by Bishop Whitney; the death of Bismarck afforded a like opportunity to Professor J. M. Tanner to write up a biographical sketch of this first statesman of Europe and the nineteenth century; the death of President Woodruff also afforded the occasion for the official biographical sketch of him, which appeared in No. 12 of the first volume, written by the historian of the Church, Elder Franklin D. Richards. These special articles, together with the chapters on the progress of the American-Spanish war, have given to the Era the character for keeping abreast of the great events of the time, above referred to, a character that will be maintained and intensified during the years that are to come. What special events will transpire in the present year to make the pages of the magazine of intense interest, we cannot now, of course, determine; but our readers may be assured that whatever great events take place, the Era will have special articles in relation to them. We will make our magazine a reliable depository of great current questions and events such as will make it for all time to come a valuable work of reference in the libraries of our young men. becoming a first-class magazine are much improved over what they were a year ago. And it is safe to say that they will increase from year to year until the organ of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations of Zion will be truly representative of our young men both at home and abroad, where we are assured that through

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the agency of our missionaries the magazine will be extensively known. If men are known by the company they keep, so also are

they known by the books they read; which after all are in a manner our companions, and none the less really so because they happen to be silent companions. It is our ambition that so far as the young men of Zion are to be known by the Era, which is theirs, they shall be favorably known as having a relish for good and substantial reading upon great and important questions; known for having sound minds, and while not adverse to wholesome light literature and pure fun; yet as earnest men they are interested in the consideration of serious matters. Such is to be, so far as we can forecast it, the character of the second volume of this magazine, for such is the character of the magazine which we believe will contribute most to the improvement of our young men.

There is quite a demand from various classes and organizations outside of the Improvement Associations, for last year's Manual. If any of the members of the associations have copies in good condition, which they wish to dispose of, they will please notify Brother Thomas Hull, the general secretary.