After this the Presidents of the quorums voted on the question and it was then put to the entire assembly which arose _en masse_ and voted in the same manner. It was a remarkable scene. There was not a dissenting vote in all that vast assembly; and there were probably thirteen thousand people crowded into the great Tabernacle. Perfect unanimity prevailed; and as the several quorums registered their votes and the entire assembly arose and with uplifted hands sanctioned what they had done, the scene was indescribably grand and impressive, carrying with it a power and influence that can only come from a righteous people giving their unrestrained assent to that which God has appointed. It was an influence born of a union of _vox dei et vox populi_. It was a Spirit identical with that which in a larger degree pervades the councils of the Gods. John Taylor was now invested with the highest office and honors which God gives to man on the earth. He was placed on a par with Melchisedek, Moses, Peter, Joseph and Brigham: for by the action of this conference he was made President of the High Priesthood, whose duty it is to preside over the whole Church, to be like Moses, a seer, a revelator, a translator, a prophet, having all the gifts of God which He bestows upon the head of the Church. [2] The Lord in describing the power and authority of the Higher or Melchisedek Priesthood, says: It holds the keys of all the spiritual blessings of the Church. It has the privilege of receiving the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven; of having the heavens opened to it; the right to commune with the general assembly and church of the first born; and to enjoy the communion and presence of God the Father, and Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant. [3] These are the privileges of the High Priesthood, and John Taylor was called to preside over it, with a right to all the gifts and powers associated therewith. What higher authority can man possess? What honor greater can be given him? True, in the ceremonies which invested him with these high dignities, there was no long drawn out pomp, no tapers, processions, chantings, or clouds of incense; no vestures red or white, gold-laced or furred; no sceptre or tiara; no peal of bells, no cannon's roar, no formal, solemn _Te deum_! Yet what office created by man--pontifical, princely, kingly--how graced so ever with the formal pomp and show in the bestowal of it, can equal that conferred on John Taylor, by the voice of God and the common consent of his brethren?