On the 4th of September, 1877, the two counselors of the late President Young and ten of the Twelve Apostles--Orson Pratt and Joseph F. Smith, the other two members, were absent in England--held a meeting and waited upon the Lord. With humble, contrite and saddened hearts they earnestly sought to learn His will concerning themselves and the Church. The Lord blessed them with the spirit of union, and revealed to them what steps should be taken, and the following is what was done: Elder Taylor was unanimously sustained as the President of the Twelve; and with the same unanimity it was voted that the Twelve Apostles should be sustained as the presiding authority in the Church, while the counselors to the late President Young, John W. Young and Daniel H. Wells, were sustained as one with, counselors to and associated in action with the Twelve Apostles. To facilitate the transaction of business it was also voted that for the time being President Taylor should be assisted by John W. Young, Daniel H. Wells and George Q. Cannon, in attending to business connected with the temples, the public works and other financial affairs of the Church. They were a kind of executive committee. These preparations were made for pushing forward the work of the Lord in the earth, without even a halt or jostle. Here it will be proper to note those circumstances which brought Elder Taylor to the exalted station he now occupied. The position in which the members of the Twelve stand in their quorum is determined by seniority of ordination, not of age. Therefore it is always the senior member by ordination that of right is the president of the quorum. For a number of years, however, there were three members of the quorum living at the death of President Young whose names stood before President Taylor's: Orson Hyde, Orson Pratt and Wilford Woodruff. Doubtless Wilford Woodruff's name was placed upon the records before the name of John Taylor through some inadvertence, or perhaps through the incorrect idea that seniority of age decided the order in which the members of the quorum stood--Wilford Woodruff was the older man. John Taylor, however, was ordained before Wilford Woodruff, in fact, the former assisted at the ordination of the latter, so there could be no question as to his seniority of ordination. The attention of President Young and his counselors being called to these facts, it was decided--the Twelve also concurring--that John Taylor stood before Wilford Woodruff in the quorum, the names after this were so arranged. During the troublous times at Far West, Missouri, Orson Hyde became involved in some difficulty, in connection with Thomas B. Marsh, which resulted in his excommunication, so that he lost his place in the quorum. Orson Pratt was also involved in some difficulty in Nauvoo which led to his being dropped from his quorum, and Amasa Lyman was ordained to fill the vacancy.