Part 29 (2/2)
The above named persons were ordained under the hands of Elders Kimball, Woodruff and Snow.
It was then moved by Elder Kimball and seconded by Elder Woodruff, that Elder Lorenzo Snow be appointed President of the London Conference, and also to take the superintendency of the Church in London.
Much valuable instruction was given by Apostles Kimball and Woodruff in relation to the duties of the official members, and the conference then adjourned to Sunday, the 16th of May.
Immediately after the conference Heber started for Manchester to join President Young. He had just received a letter from his wife, Vilate, saying that the Prophet Joseph was very anxious for the return of the Twelve, as both countries were then in the greatest excitement over the prospect of war. As for the Apostles themselves, they could not but realize that their situation as American missionaries was very precarious, and that their immigration of that year was in imminent danger of being interrupted by the British government.
CHAPTER XLIV.
HEBER ORGANIZES THE BIRMINGHAM CONFERENCE--MEETING OF THE APOSTLES IN MANCHESTER PRIOR TO RETURNING TO AMERICA--ORSON HYDE PRESENT ON HIS WAY TO PALESTINE--THE EXTENSIVE WORK OF ONE YEAR.
On his way to Manchester Heber tarried a few days at Bedford, strengthening the Saints in that place, and adding new members to the Church. He also visited Birmingham and there organized a conference.
One hundred and seven members were represented, and nine persons ordained to the ministry. Elder Alfred Cordon was appointed president.
The Birmingham Conference became one of the largest and most important conferences in the mission.
On the 6th day of April, 1841, the Apostles met as a quorum in Manchester, for the transaction of business prior to their departure for America. The meetings, which were open to the Saints, were held in Carpenter's Hall. The members of the quorum present were Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Hyde, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, Wilford Woodruff, John Taylor, Willard Richards and George A. Smith.
Orson Hyde had lately arrived from America on his way to Jerusalem, whither he had been sent on a mission to the house of Judah.
The representation of the churches and conferences throughout the mission being called for, it was found that thirty-three conferences and branches were represented, aggregating a members.h.i.+p of five thousand eight hundred and fourteen, with one hundred and thirty-six Elders, three hundred and three Priests, one hundred and sixty-nine Teachers, and sixty-eight Deacons. This enumeration did not include some fifty members not connected with any branch, and nearly eight hundred Saints who had emigrated to America during the year.
Several ordinations were performed, and the following business was transacted:
”Resolved, That Manchester, Stockport, Dukinfield, Oldham, Bolton and all the neighboring branches be organized into one conference to be called the Manchester Conference.
”That the church in Brampton, Alston, and Carlisle be included in one conference;
”That the churches of Liverpool, Isle of Man, Wales, viz., Overton, Harding and Elsmere, be organized into one conference, to be called the Liverpool Conference;
”That the Macclesfield Conference include Macclesfield, Northwich, Middlewich, and Lostock;
”That the Edinburgh Conference include Edinburgh and vicinity, and that the conference of Glasgow include Glasgow, Paisley, Bridge of Weir, Johnston, and Th.o.r.n.y Bank.
”Resolved, that G. D. Watt preside over the Edinburgh Conference; that Thomas Ward preside over the c.l.i.thero Conference; that Lorenzo Snow preside over the London Conference; that J. Gaily preside over the Macclesfield Conference; that A. Cordon preside over the Staffords.h.i.+re Conference; that J. Riley be ordained a High Priest and preside over the Birmingham Conference; that J. McAuley preside over the Glasgow Conference; that Thomas Richardson preside over the Gadfield Elm Conference; that Wm. Kay preside over the Froomes Hill Conference; that Levi Richards have the superintendence of the Garway Conference; that P. Melling, Patriarch, continue to preside over the Preston Conference, and that J. Sanders preside over the Brampton Conference.”
The above resolutions were adopted unanimously. Elder J. Albertson was then given a patriarchal blessing, under the hands of Father Melling, after which he was himself ordained a Patriarch by the Apostles.
During the meeting a very richly ornamented cake, a present from New York, from a Sister Adams to the Twelve, was exhibited and then divided among the congregation. While the distribution was going on, several appropriate hymns were sung, and a powerful and general feeling of delight pervaded the meeting. Under the inspiration of the moment, Elder Parley P. Pratt composed the following lines and handed them to the clerk who read them to the congregation:
”When in far distant regions As strangers we roam, Far away from our country, Our friends and our home; When sinking in sorrow, Fresh courage we'll take, As we think on our friends, And remember the cake.”
Several discourses were then delivered, and this memorable and happy meeting--the first and last at which so many members of the early Twelve met together in a foreign land, came to a close.
The Apostles next issued their first general epistle to the Saints in England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and the Isle of Man. It was a well-worded, even eloquent doc.u.ment, full of wise counsel and timely instruction. Having now set in order the affairs of the Church throughout the mission, the Apostles, all save Orson Hyde, who was bound for Palestine, and Parley P. Pratt, who was left to preside over the British mission, prepared to return to America.
A great work had been accomplished by these faithful and devoted men of G.o.d, during the past year. The mission founded by Heber C. Kimball and his brethren in 1837, was now established upon a broad and permanent basis, and the mighty stream of Israel's emigration from foreign sh.o.r.es set in motion.
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