W. W. Phelps addressed the nearly ten thousand persons gathered to pay final respects to Joseph and Hyrum Smith two days after their murder. In his lengthy sermon at this memorial service, Phelps predicted: "Be assured, brethren and sisters, this desperate 'smite' of our foes to stop the onward cause of Mormonism, will increase its spread and prosperity an hundred fold ... The priesthood remains unharmed. … The 'Twelve' (most now absent) … when they return will turn the 'mantle' and step into the 'shoes' of the 'Prophet, priest and King' of Israel."
Phelps's hymn, "Praise to the Man," is a eulogy of continuing popularity in the Church.
[Source: Van Wagoner, Richard and Walker, Steven C., A Book of Mormons, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies]
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