"Before I left Nauvoo, I heard the Prophet Joseph say he would give the Saints a key whereby they would never be led away or deceived, and that was: 'The Lord would never suffer the majority of this people to be led away or deceived by imposters, nor would he allow the records of this Church to fall into the hands of the enemy.' I heard Joseph say this, and I also heard him say that he would roll the burden of the Apostleship upon the quorum of the Twelve. I heard Joseph preach many times; heard him in the last sermon he ever delivered, bear testimony to the truth of the work that God had called him to; also that the Lord had never suffered him to be slain by his enemies, because his work had not been done, until a short time ago. He had now laid the foundation of this work, and rolled the burden of the Priesthood upon the Twelve; and having given them their washings and anointings, they would now bear off this work triumphantly, and it would roll on faster than ever before; and, if the Lord was willing to accept him, he was willing to go."--M. I. A. Era, Vol. 5: 202. PROPERLY ORDAINED. We will now consider the claim that Joseph Smith of the "Reorganization" was properly ordained. We must first know what constitutes a proper ordination. First. It must be done by those holding authority in the Priesthood who have been properly appointed; otherwise the ordination is not valid. Second. The ordination must be approved by the body of the Church and sanctioned by the Church, or it is not valid. For there is in the Gospel the law of common consent. Doc. & Cov. Sec. 20:63, 65; 26:2. Third, If a man exercises his Priesthood contrary to the rules of the Church, or in unrighteousness, Amen to his authority.--Doc. & Cov. 121:27. Fourth, "Again, I say unto you, it shall not be given to any one to go forth to preach my Gospel, or to build up my Church except he be ordained by some one who has authority, and it is known to the Church that he has authority, and has been regularly ordained by the heads of the Church."--(Sec. 42:11). The question is, will the ordination of Joseph Smith of the "Reorganization" stand this test? He was "ordained" under the hands of William Marks (mouth), Zenas H. Gurley, William W. Blair and Samuel Powers. Messrs. Blair and Powers never did belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, so we will pass them by without consideration, and will take up the cases of William Marks and Zenas H. Gurley separately. William Marks was president of the Nauvoo stake at the time of the martyrdom, but it is of a more recent period that we are considering him. Did he in 1860 hold the priesthood? William Marks was dropped from his position as president of the Nauvoo stake at a conference of the Church held October 7, 1844. (T. & S., 5: 692).