INCIDENTS OF ELDER KIMBALL'S MISSION, AS GLEANED FROM HIS LETTERS--SOME
OF HIS PROPHECIES FULFILLED--ELDER HYDE'S ACCOUNT OF THE CONTEST
WITH EVIL SPIRITS--GREAT SUCCESS OF THE WORK THROUGHOUT ENGLAND--A
TESTIMONIAL--SUMMARY OF LABORS--RETURN TO NAUVOO.
Elder Kimball's journal containing an account of his mission after
leaving New York having been lost, it has been necessary to refer to
letters written to his family for further particulars.
After a very stormy passage, he and his brethren arrived in Liverpool
on the 6th of the April, 1840, where they met Elders Taylor and
Fielding. Three days later he went by train to Preston. On reaching
Penwortham, three miles from Preston he learned that the Saints had
been anxiously expecting him for months. He found many friends standing
by the railway watching for him. It was a happy meeting. There was
great rejoicing among the Saints, and no little excitement and disgust
among their enemies, who had declared that he and his associate Elders
should never come to that land again. Many ministers were very much
exercised over their presence and were in favor of petitioning the
heads of government to interfere with their proselyting. They had cause
to fear, as the labors of the Elders had already resulted in breaking
up many churches.
On the 14th of April, the Elders met to organize, when Elder Willard
Richards was ordained to the Apostleship and Brigham Young chosen
President. The following day a general conference was held, at which
one thousand seven hundred and twenty members of the Church were
represented, exclusive of a large number scatted about in different
parts of the land, whose standing was not known.
On the 18th, he accompanied Elder Willard Richards to the little branch
at Walkerford, where, it will be remembered, Elder Kimball was first
invited to come and preach by the Rev. Mr. Richards, whose daughter he
had previously baptized. This daughter in the meantime had been married
to Elder Willard Richards. And right here it may be as well to remark,
in illustration of Elder Kimball's prophetic character, that this
marriage was in fulfillment of a prediction which he made immediately
after baptizing Miss Jeannette Richards. On meeting Elder Richards,
he exclaimed, "Willard, I have baptized your wife to day!" A similar
prediction was made by him about the marriage of Elder Joseph Fielding,
and as literally fulfilled.
Since Elder Kimball's first visit to Walkerford, the few Saints there
had suffered a great deal of persecution, still most of them had
remained firm in the faith. It would appear, however, that Mr. John
Richards had got to feel rather sore over the change in his prospects
since having his church members converted to "Mormonism," for on seeing
Elder Kimball again at his house in company with Elder Richards, he
ordered him to leave. Brother Kimball, in writing of this, says: "I
went out and pursued my journey. I could hear the old lady and Sister
Richards crying when I got into the road. I felt to weep for them. She
is a mother indeed, who has fed me and given me money and administered
to my wants, and will not lose her reward."
Elder Kimball makes frequent mention of the love which the Saints
manifested for him. While staying at the house of Brother Thomas Smith,
in Clitheroe, he one morning overheard one of the daughters of the
house say to her mother, "I want you should make Brother Kimball as
comfortable as possible, and I will work in the factory as hard as I
can."
His sympathy was frequently aroused by meeting with Saints who had
been in comfortable circumstances when he knew them on his former
mission, but who, through being thrown out of employment, were reduced
to want, and would weep at not being able to set food before him as
they had formerly done. In visiting Eccleston and Dauber's Lane and
the surrounding region, he was received with a perfect ovation by
the Saints, and they everywhere urged him to tarry with them. At a
village called Chatburn, where he and Elder Fielding went to preach,
no house could be found large enough for the people to convene in who
turned out to hear them, and they held a meeting in a large barn, with
most excellent results. Of this place and its people, he wrote: "Some
who had left the Church wished they had been faithful; and some did
return by humble repentance and being re-baptized. There appears to be
something peculiar in the people of this place; others had tried in
vain to enlist them in their folds, but on hearing the first preaching
of the fullness of the gospel they were overwhelmed in tears of
repentance and more than twenty were immediately baptized, which number
was afterwards increased to about ninety, who have generally kept the
faith. We have never received anything like an insult all the times we
visited the village, and we feel bound to bless them."
On visiting Southport, a celebrated bathing place, and a great resort
for rich people in search of health, he says, "There I beheld halt and
blind, deaf and maimed and leprous. Such a distressed set of beings
I never saw before. At this place there was a sister sick, and not
expected to live. She was healed by administering the ordinances, and
the next day she went with us two miles on foot."
Of the fraternal feeling that prevailed among the Saints, he says, "The
rich love the poor so well they cannot bear to leave them behind. This
is a celestial spirit; I would to God that all the Saints had it. There
is one peculiarity about the people--just as soon as they come out of
the water they want to go to America. When they begin to gather to Zion
from this land, it will never stop till the salt is drained out of all
nations. These are some of the jewels of the earth."
On the 4th of August he started on a visit to London, calling on the
way at Burslem, where he remained and spent a holiday with the Saints
and preached to six or seven thousand people in the public park. He
also stopped at West Bromwich, Birmingham, Ledbury, Cheltenham, and
several other places, and visited with the Saints, held a number of
meetings and baptized quite a number. On reaching London, he went in
search of the officers of the Teetotal Society, on account of the
kindness they had shown him on his first mission, in opening their
halls for him to preach in when others refused to. He found them very
friendly and willing to assist him in any way possible. In company
with Elders Woodruff and George A. Smith, he also visited Westminister
Abbey and the Queen's Palace. In alluding to the latter and the
lavish extravagance that he witnessed, he wrote, "Americans would be
astonished to see the stir there is made over a little queen; at the
same time there are thousands starving to death for want of a little
bread; but they have their reward: 'Blessed are the poor, for they
shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.' The rich have their reward
here, and we shall have ours hereafter; so I do not envy them."
He found London the most difficult place to make any impression
in of any that he had visited. It would seem as if the devil took
special pains to do all he could to prevent the Elders from gaining a
foothold there. On the 19th of September, while there, Elder Kimball
was stricken with the cholera, and he felt as if he could not live
till morning, but he rallied and commenced again as zealously as
ever laboring for the conversion of the people. In writing of their
discouraging labors, he said:
"Brother Woodruff had been gone about two weeks and we had baptized
only one here in the city before he left. He felt almost discouraged,
and said he never saw such a hard case before--every door closed
against us, and every heart. We have traveled from day to day, from
one part of the city to the other, to find some one that would receive
our testimony. It seemed all in vain for some time; at last we found
one old Cornelius that was ready to receive our testimony as soon as
he heard it. On Sunday, the morning after I was taken with cholera, I
went forward and baptized four. I thought it would do me good to go
into a cold bath. Last night I went into the water and baptized four
more. Some more are going on Sunday. The ice is broken in London, and
the gospel has got such a hold that the devil can not root it out; but
he is very mad, and I am glad--I shall never try to please him, the
Lord assisting me. I see nothing to discourage me but everything to the
reverse."
When the devil offers determined opposition, it may be considered as
a sure indication that he is losing ground, and that his fears are
awakened. Elder Kimball had had sufficient experience in contending
with him to learn this fact, and to rejoice at seeing the evil one
aroused. It will be remembered that the first success of the Elders
in the English mission aroused hostility in that quarter, and Elders
Kimball, Hyde and Russell had a personal contest with evil spirits.
As the allusion to that occasion published on page 20 is quite brief
[see chapter II, paragraph beginning with "One Saturday evening I was
appointed by the brethren...."--Transcriber], it may be as well to
insert here Elder Hyde's description of the scene, as contained in a
letter to Elder Kimball, written May 22, 1856. He said:
"Every circumstance that occurred at that scene of devils is just as
fresh in my recollection at this moment as it was at the moment of
its occurrence, and will ever remain so. After you were overcome by
them and had fallen, their awful rush upon me with knives, threats,
imprecations and hellish grins amply convinced me that they were no
friends of mine. While you were apparently senseless and lifeless on
the floor and upon the bed (after we laid you there), I stood between
you and the devils and fought them and contended against them face to
face until they began to diminish in number, and to retreat from the
room. The last imp that left turned round to me as he was going out
and said, as if to apologize and appease my determined opposition to
them, 'I never said anything against you!' I replied to him thus: 'It
matters not to me whether you have or have not; you are a liar from the
beginning! In the name of Jesus Christ, depart!' He immediately left,
and the room was clear. That closed the scene of devils for that time."
In writing of London some time afterwards, Elder Kimball said, "The
waters have begun to be troubled, and I pray that they may continue
until the Lord gathers out His people from this city. I can say I never
felt a greater desire for a place than I have for London, as it is the
metropolis of the world and the depot of wickedness, for it don't seem
as though any place could be any worse. All manner of debauchery that
can be thought of is practiced here."
Elders Kimball and George A. Smith left London October 1, 1840, to
attend the third general conference in Manchester, at which five of
the Apostles met with the Saints and had a time of rejoicing. At this
conference three thousand six hundred and twenty-six members were
represented, more than double the number reported at the conference
held six months before. From this showing the readers can judge of
the rapidity with which the work had increased, and new fields were
constantly opening up. The Elders met with powerful opposition in many
places, but the more they were opposed the faster the work grew.
It would seem that among other things predicted upon the head of Elder
Kimball by the Prophet previous to starting, was that he should see
the queen of England. He records the fulfillment of this prediction as
follows: "Elder Woodruff, Sister Ellen Redman, Dr. Copeland and wife,
and I had a fair view of the queen. We saw her as the Prophet Joseph
told us. * * * We stood within eight or nine feet of her when she
passed and returned. She made her obeisance to us, and we returned it.
She is a pleasant little body, but what a fuss there is made over one
little girl; and how much more I would enjoy the privilege of sitting
by my humble fireside with my wife and little children, and to see my
brethren and sisters whom I have formed acquaintance with in days of
affliction."
Though averse to royalty, as might be inferred from the foregoing, it
would seem that he had a high regard personally for the Queen and her
consort, Prince Albert, and he and his brethren presented each of them
with a handsomely bound copy of the Book of Mormon, with their names
upon them.
In February, 1841, in writing of the anxiety of the newly converted
Saints to emigrate to America, he said, "I expect trouble is coming
there as well as here. I feel as though I wanted to be there, and share
with them, if they suffer. I would rather suffer affliction with the
Saints of God than to have the pleasures of this world for a season;
for to me it is all vanity. My prayer is that the Almighty will give
me grace and patience to endure and hold on to the iron rod. If we
do this, we shall do well. When He has spoken through His prophet or
predicted anything on this Church, it has come to pass, and the honest
have to suffer with the guilty. This has always been the case, but I
pray the Lord to help me to fulfill, in all points of the law which
leads to the celestial world."
He mentions a visit which he made to Bedford, where he remained a week
and preached every night to crowded assemblies. He also baptized many,
among whom were a number of the followers of a Mr. Matthews, a spurious
Latter-day Saint preacher, who had baptized himself, and started out
preaching faith, repentance, baptism, etc. He was a partner of Mr.
Aitkin in Liverpool, and a man of considerable natural ability. Elder
Kimball denounced him publicly, and when he took leave of Bedford, he
"left the whole town in an uproar."
He also went to Birmingham, Manchester, Wales, Preston and Clitheroe,
holding farewell meetings with the Saints, and baptizing more or less
everywhere he went. At the latter place he was presented with the
following
TESTIMONIAL:
"March 28, 1841.
"_To all in these last days called to be Saints, and to the faithful in
Christ Jesus, grace be to you, and peace from God, our Father, and from
the Lord Jesus Christ_.
"We, the brethren and sisters of the various churches associated in
the conference assembling at Clitheroe, in the County of Lancaster,
England, unitedly and with strong feelings of gratitude and affection,
bear testimony that our brother, Elder Heber C. Kimball, has, in
the midst of opposition and in the face of persecution and slander,
diligently and faithfully labored as a servant of the Most High God;
and we pray you in the name of Jesus Christ to receive him as such,
rendering unto him every necessary assistance to aid him in the work
of the Lord; and may the Spirit of Truth ever be with our brother, and
with all the Saints of God. Amen.
"Signed on behalf of the conference,
"THOMAS WARD, Presiding Elder,
"STEPHEN LANGSTROFF."
On the 20th of April, 1841, he writes: "President Brigham Young, Orson
Pratt, Wilford Woodruff, John Taylor, George A. Smith, Willard Richards
and myself, with a company of one hundred and thirty Saints, are on
board the ship _Rochester_, bound for New York. Brother P.P. Pratt and
a multitude of the Saints came to bid us farewell, and many of them
wept like children when we left them to return to our native land."
The following is from President Brigham Young's journal: "It truly
seems a miracle to look upon the contrast between our landing and
departure from Liverpool. We landed in the spring of 1840, as strangers
in a strange land, and penniless, but through the mercy of God we have
gained many friends, established churches in almost every noted town
and city of Great Britain, baptized between 7,000 and 8,000 souls,
printed 5,000 Books of Mormon, 3,000 hymn books, 2,500 volumes of the
_Millennial Star_ and 50,000 tracts; emigrated to Zion 1,000 souls,
established a permanent shipping agency, which will be a great blessing
to the Saints, and have left sown in the hearts of many thousands the
seed of eternal life, which shall bring forth fruit to the honor and
glory of God; and yet we have lacked nothing to eat, drink or wear; in
all these things I acknowledge the hand of God."
Of his return home Elder Kimball records: "On the 1st of July,
President Brigham Young, John Taylor and myself landed at Nauvoo, where
we were met by the Prophet and a host of friends who had gathered there
to welcome us home again."
Transcriber's Note:
Some obvious printer's errors have been corrected as seems reasonable
(e. g. riyer for river, yon for you, wth for with, rembembered for
remembered, mismatched quotation marks, etc. etc.). The book used
as a reference for this e-book was donated to the library of the
University of California (Berkeley) in April 1886 by Pres. John
Taylor and digitized by the Internet Archive in 2008 with funding
from Microsoft Corporation. It can be viewed or downloaded at
https://archive.org/details/presidentheberck00kimbrich.