in authority whom he had so long regarded
enviously; and he spoke of my father, both privately and in public, in a
way that won me to him.

The shock of grief had perhaps "mellowed" me. I felt more tolerant of
these men, since I was no longer necessarily engaged in opposing them.
When President Snow died (October, 1901), I shared only the general
interest in the way Joseph F. Smith set about asserting his family's
title to rulership of the "Kingdom of God on Earth;" for, in effect,
he notified the world that his branch of the Smith family had been
designated by Divine revelation to rule in the affairs of all men, by an
appointment that had never been revoked. He has since made his cousin,
John Henry Smith, his First Councillor; and he has inducted his son
Hyrum into the apostolate by "revelation." This latter act roused the
jealousy of the mother of his son Joseph F. Smith, Jr., and the amused
gossip of the Mormons predicted another revelation that should give
Joseph Jr. a similar promotion. The revelation came. So many others have
also come that the Smith family is today represented in the hierarchy
by Joseph F. Smith, President, "Prophet, Seer and Revelator to all the
world;" John Smith (a brother) presiding Patriarch over the whole human
race; John Henry Smith (a cousin) Apostle and First Councillor to the
President; Hyrum Smith and Joseph F. Smith (sons) Apostles; George A.
Smith (son of John Henry) apostle; David S. Smith (son of Joseph
F.) Councillor to the presiding Bishop of the Church and in line of
succession to the bishopric; and Bathseba W. Smith, President of the
Relief Societies[4]. [FOOTNOTE: She has died since this was written.]

As Joseph F. Smith has still thirty other sons--and at least four wives
who are not represented in the apostolate--there may yet be a quorum of
Smiths to succeed endlessly to the Presidency and make the Smith family
a perpetual dynasty in Utah.

It is one of the fascinating contradictions of Mormonism that many of
the sincere people--who smilingly predicted the Divine interposition by
which this family succession was founded--accept its rule devoutly. "The
Lord," they will tell you, "will look after the Church. If these men are
good enough for God, they are good enough for me. I do not have to save
the Kingdom." And they continue paying their devotion (and their tithes)
to a family autocracy whose imposition would have provoked a rebellion
in any other community in the civiliz