Suppose that Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G. Williams had been taken away or had apostatized, as one of them did soon after the revelation I have referred to was given, and there had been only Joseph Smith left of the First Presidency, would he alone have had authority to set in order the Kingdom of God on the earth? Yes. Again: Suppose that eleven of the Twelve had been taken away by the power of the Adversary, that one Apostle has the same power that Joseph had, and could preach, baptize, and set in order the whole Kingdom of God upon the earth, as much so as the Twelve, were they all together. Again: If in the providence of God he should permit the enemy to destroy these two first Quorums, and then destroy the Quorum of the Seventy, all but one man, what is his power? It would be to go and preach, baptize, confirm, lay on hands, ordain, set in order, build up, and establish the whole Kingdom of God as it is now. Suppose the enemy had power to destroy all but one of the High Priests from the {215} face of the earth, what would that one possess in the power of his Priesthood? He would have power and authority to go and preach, baptize, confirm, ordain, and set in order the Kingdom of God in all its perfection of the earth. Could he do this without revelation? No. Could the Seventies? No. Could the Twelve? No. And we ask, could Joseph Smith or the First Presidency do this without revelation? No. Not one of them could do such a work without revelation direct from God. I can go still further. Whoever is ordained to the office of an Elder to a certain degree possesses the keys of the Melchizedek Priesthood; and suppose only one Elder should be left on the earth, could he go and set in order the Kingdom of God? Yes, by revelation. 9:88. Although Brothers Willard Richards, Heber C. Kimball, and myself are out of the Quorum of the Twelve, our Apostleship has not been taken from us. I preached considerable upon this subject in Nauvoo, to give the people the understanding of the different callings of men. 6:320. Many may think that a man in my standing ought to be perfect; no such thing. If you would only think of it for a moment you would not have me perfect, for if I were perfect the Lord would take me to Paradise quicker than you would be willing to have me go there. I want to stay with you; and I expect to be just nearly perfect enough to lead you on. 10:212. I had the promise, years ago, that I never should apostatize and bring an evil upon this people. God revealed that through Joseph, long before he died; and if I am not doing right, you may calculate that the Lord is going to take me home. He will not send me to hell, but he will take me home to himself. "I will take you up here, Brigham, and give you a few lessons." 9:142. {216} (After putting the motion for himself to be sustained as "Prophet, Seer, and Revelator," the President remarked):