We [i.e., the apostles] laid down the rule that no Apostle can be sustained in uttering sentiments among the Saints counter to the public pledges of the President and the Church before the Saints and the world. No man can be allowed to enter into or perform a plural marriage but by direct sanction of the only one man who holds the keys of that sacred order. Every member of our council must sustain the stand taken by President [Joseph F.] Smith and must not talk nor act at cross purposes with the Prophet. What has already been done is shaking the confidence of the Latter-day Saints. We are considered as two-faced and insincere. We must not stand in that light before the Saints or the world ... It is of great importance that as Apostles we shall each have the approval of our Council, of the First Presidency and of the Lord and the Saints. Without the support of these factors we are nothing. It has come to this juncture, that the Presidency hold me responsible to see to it that the members of our Council be thoroughly advised that we will not be tolerated in anything out of harmony with the stand taken by President Joseph F. Smith before the Senate Committee on the subject of Plural marriage. We must uphold his hands and vindicate the Church. The Lord requires all this of us. If any one of us go contrary to this it will be at his peril before the Church and the nation. Neither the Presidency nor the Church will carry the responsibility.
[Francis M. Lyman, Letter to George Teasdale, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1910-1951, Privately Published, Salt Lake City, Utah 2010]
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