3. Students should be at home by 9 o'clock every night except Sunday night, and by 10 on that night. 4. Students of the Academy will be given the privilege of attending four dances each term. The fundamental principles of Latter-day Saint education were plainly marked, viz: a religious foundation, consisting of reverence for and obedience to the revealed word of God, and a living testimony of the divinity of the Latter-day work.77 At the February 1889 meeting of the stake priesthood, Jesse Haven brought up the subject of card playing and wanted the opinion of the brethren present. Some thought it did little harm if not carried to excess; others suggested that the best plan would be to send the card players to the Academy so they would have something better to do.78 During the fall of 1889, Professor Tollestrup organized an oratorio entitled Esther, the Beautiful Queen as a missionary benefit. Singers were recruited from all over the stake, and intense practicing and rehearsing went on for four months. A stage was built across the north end of the stake meetinghouse especially for the production. It was a great success.79 Manifesto In December 1889, with the weight of persecution resting heavily on the Saints, the First Presidency sent a letter to the stakes requesting that 23 December, Joseph Smith's birthday, be a day of fasting and prayer for the Church.80 At the January meeting of the priesthood, President Smith complimented the stake on their observance of the day of special fast and stated, "Our enemies are doing all in their power to get the reins of government from us in this territory, and they don't care by what means they obtain it."81 In March, as the pressures mounted, Samuel Francis advised the bishops to consider the matter of building houses of worship as "we will probably be deprived of the use of our school houses." He asked them to see to the matter as soon as possible.82 Then, on September 25, President Wilford Woodruff recorded the following in his journal: "I have arrived at a point in the history of my life as President of the Church ofjesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where I am under the necessity of acting for the temporal salvation of the Church. The United States government has taken a stand and passed laws to destroy the Latter-day Saints on the subject of polygamy, or patriarchal order of marriage; and after praying to the Lord and feeling inspired, I have issued the following proclamation which is sustained by my counselors and the twelve apostles." [See D&C, Official Declaration—1.] At the October general conference, the Manifesto was submitted to the Church for its approval or disapproval.84 At the October 11 meeting of the Morgan Stake priesthood, President Smith told the brethren that they should sustain the Manifesto as it had been presented to the body of the Church at general conference and abide its conditions.85 3"