Keys Held by the Seventy and the Testimony of Eusebius Concerning Them

Possibly the greatest revelation I received was that as a Seventy, I possessed all the keys ever delivered to the sons of Adam by ordination and by right.  After the officers of the Church threatened to attack and one did attack to shed my blood after giving to them The Revelations of Jesus Christ, the first two of which I had just received and written per commandment of the Lord God of Israel, I got myself down on my knees and asked what authority I possessed (since it was not taught in the Church, but that one must blindly follow those appointed who held sole authority as High Priests), and I was wafted by the spirit over to my bookshelf to open The Discourses of Brigham Young compiled by John Widtsoe, and opened the thick book miraculously to the very paragraph and the following flashed out at me as if lit by a neon sign, a rushing in my ears as I read the following: ‘‘The Seventies are Apostles; and they stand next in authority to the Twelve...If through the providence of God the First Presidency and the Twelve were taken away, then it would be the duty of the Seventies to preach the Gospel, build up the Church , and ordain every officer requisite in order to establish the Church, and ordain every officer requisite in order to establish the Church, and ordain High Priests, Bishops, High Counsellors, Patriarchs, and set in order the whole church in all the world. This is according to the revelations given to us...I suppose I ordained hundreds of Seventies in early days. Brother Joseph Smith has come to us many times, saying, ‘Brethren, you are going to ordain Seventies. Do not forget to confer the high priesthood (Melchizedec priesthood) upon them. Ordain each of them to the High Priesthood, and to be one of the Seventy Apostles.’ This was my language in the ordination of the Seventies, and that is the way i ordain them now. Brigham Young, Des. News, June 6, 1877, p. 274.