| 360 superior to the law of the church and the revealed word of God?
"A.-My answer is, he did not.
"Joseph's teaching always was that the law was the supreme rule of the church, and that all other powers were in subjection to the law and the books.
"Q.-Did Joseph the Seer teach that polygamy was essential to salvation and a fullness of glory?
"A.-My answer is, Joseph taught no polygamy-not to my knowledge.
"Q.-Did Joseph the Seer teach that, by the will of God, the saints would be gathered to the Rocky Mountains?
"A.-My answer is, he did not. For at the last General Conference held in Nauvoo, in the spring of 1844, Joseph's teaching was that the next great work to be accomplished after the completion of the temple, would be to divide the United States into districts, [in which to build up the church,] charging the ministry with special care to this work."-The Saints' Advocate, vol. 1, p. 61.
On April 13, 1883, in the temple at Kirtland, Ohio, Elder William Smith made the following statement, which we reported at the time:-
"We would as well cut off our right hand as to have taught that there was any legitimacy in polygamy, in the early days of the church. The United States is responsible for polygamy for not putting a stop to it. When Millard Fillmore appointed Brigham Young Governor of Utah, he knew he was a polygamist. I drew up a petition at the time setting forth the fact that Brigham Young went to Utah to practice polygamy. I got three hundred names to it, had it printed, and laid on every Senator's desk."
This will account for the bitter attack made on Elder Smith, by Col. Thomas L. Kane, when he espoused the cause of Brigham Young in 1851.
In a letter written to President Fillmore from Philadelphia, July 11, 1851, Colonel Kane assumes to defend Elder Young against certain charges, and among other things states:-
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