Life of Heber C. Kimball, an Apostle Part 18

"'LIVERPOOL, April 15, 1838.

"'_Beloved Brethren_:

"'Having given all diligence to make known unto you the common salvation of our Lord Jesus Christ, which ye have so joyfully received from my lips, I feel now to write to you a few words for your consolation, and the confirming of that hope which is possessed by you, that ye may be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, that it may be made manifest unto all men that our labors have not been in vain.

"'Be kind and affectionate one towards another, manifesting your faith by your works--doing as well as saying. If there is any one among you dest.i.tute of daily food, feed him; if any one be naked, clothe him; if any one be cast down, raise him up; if any among you are sick, send for the Elders, or Priests, that they may come and pray for you, and lay their hands upon you, and the prayer of faith shall heal the sick; therefore, brethren, let your faith be centered in G.o.d, for He is able to do all things, to forgive sins and heal the sick, for you know this, that G.o.d has said _these signs shall follow them that believe_.

"'Now, brethren, I exhort you in the name of my Master, to contend for that faith which was once delivered to the Saints; for the same faith will produce the same effects; for G.o.d has not changed, neither has His word changed; heaven and earth shall pa.s.s away, but there shall not one jot or t.i.ttle of His word fail; all shall be fulfilled, whether it be by His own voice or the voice of His servants, it is all the same; therefore, brethren, do not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of G.o.d.

"'Dear brethren and sisters, be patient, be humble, be prayerful, visit your secret places. Pray in your families morning and evening, ye who are heads of families, and neglect not the a.s.sembling of yourselves together; but speak often one to another concerning the things of the kingdom, and diligently follow after every good thing, remembering that the diligent hand maketh rich.

Let these things be and abound with you, and ye shall be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of G.o.d. Let your eyes be single, and your bodies shall be filled with light.

"'Now, to you, brethren, who have been ordained to watch over the flock, I would say, stand in your places and magnify the offices which ye have received of the Lord Jesus, to feed His sheep. Feed the lambs; watch over the flock in all things; be not partial to any one; remember these things, and the blessing of G.o.d shall attend you in all things.

"'Dear brethren and sisters, I give you the grat.i.tude of my heart for the kindness which you have bestowed upon me and my brethren; for when I was hungry, ye fed me; when I was naked, ye clothed me; when I was dest.i.tute, ye gave me money; when I was a stranger, ye took me in and lodged me; and, as ye have done these things to me and my brethren in our necessities, my heavenly Father shall minister unto you in your necessities; for I am not forgetful of those things and I do ever remember you in my prayers, praying my heavenly Father to sustain you, and enable you to walk worthy of the holy vocation unto which ye have been called, unto the end.

Amen.

"'Finally, brethren and sisters, farewell. Pray for me and my brethren; and may the G.o.d of all grace sanctify you wholly, and bring you into my Father's kingdom.

"'Adieu. This from your beloved brother in Christ,

"'HEBER C. KIMBALL.'"

One more incident remains to be told, ere with the Elders we take leave of England. At Liverpool, April 13th, "Good Friday," Apostle Kimball penned the following:

"_Dear Brothers and Sisters in Preston_:

"It seemeth good unto us and also unto the Holy Spirit to write you a few words which cause pain in our hearts, and will also pain you when they are fulfilled before you; yet you shall have joy in the end. Brother Webster will not abide in the Spirit of the Lord, but will reject the truth, and become the enemy of the people of G.o.d, and expose the mysteries which have been committed to him, that a righteous judgment may be executed upon him, unless he speedily repent.

"When this sorrowful prediction shall be fulfilled, this letter shall be read to the Church, and it shall prove a solemn warning to all to beware.

"Farewell in the Lord."

This letter, signed by the two Apostles, Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde, was sealed in the presence, and committed to the care, of Elders Joseph Fielding and Willard Richards. These brethren, on returning to Preston, had Elder William Clayton and Deacon Arthur Burrows examine the sealed missive critically, and placed marks and dates upon it, in order to be able to testify, if necessary, that it had not been opened.

The fulfillment of the prediction was most accurate. Thomas Webster, the individual referred to in the epistle, was a member of the Preston branch, a man of promise and ability, quite popular with the Saints, and his integrity at the time unquestioned. Desiring that he should prosper. Presidents Fielding and Richards watched over and prayed for him, and "he continued to grow in the knowledge of the kingdom, and spoke with power for some months." A change then came over him; he became dissatisfied, and preferred certain charges against the presiding Elders. These charges were proven to be false, or of no account, and Webster was required to acknowledge his error, or cease acting in his office. He refused to do either. On the following Sunday, in a private house, he administered the sacrament to six of his followers, one of whom had been excommunicated from the Church, while another had not even been baptized. For this offense Webster was deprived of his membership.

The letter of the Apostles was then opened and read to the Church, Brothers Clayton and Burrows first testifying publicly that the seal had never been broken. It was feared that Webster's popularity would draw many after him, but the reading of the prediction concerning him utterly destroyed his influence, and more fully confirmed the Saints in their faith.

Webster, ambitious to create a following, and well aware of his popularity, applied for permission to come before the Church and publicly plead his cause, which request was wisely denied, as he had refused to appear, when required, the Sabbath before. Soon after placards were posted up in different parts of Preston reading as follows; "A lecture will be delivered at Mr. Giles' chapel, to expose the mysteries of Mormonism, by Thomas Webster." This announcement he fulfilled, though with little effect, thus making good in strictest detail the prophecy of Heber C. Kimball, uttered six months before.

Return we now to the Apostles and Elder Russell, in Liverpool, about to take pa.s.sage on board the _Garrick_, bound for New York.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

THE ELDERS SAIL FOR HOME--A STORM AT SEA--HOW HEBER FOUND FAVOR WITH THE STEWARD--ARRIVAL AT NEW YORK--THE "GARRICK" AGAIN VICTORIOUS-- JOURNEY TO KIRTLAND--ON TO FAR WEST--HAPPY MEETING WITH JOSEPH AND THE BRETHREN.

Homeward bound!

Sheathed the sword and furled the banner.

The battle won, the fortress stormed and taken.

For a little season, rest and change, ere again the trumpet sounds, and the warrior is resummoned to the fray.

It was indeed a campaign of victory from which the Elders were returning. The laurel wreath was theirs, bravely and fairly earned.

Yet not for worldly honors and applause had they been striving. These, to the true servant of Christ, are ever the last consideration. The praise of man they neither expected nor desired. Their reward was with them, a reward never wrongly bestowed; the approval of a good conscience and the favor of their Maker; meed only of worthy motives, and of duty well performed.

Again on board the _Garrick_, upon the bosom of the heaving main.

It was on the 20th of April, 1838, that the Elders embarked for home.

"Soon after we left Liverpool," says Heber, "a great storm came on, with a head wind, which continued without cessation for several days, and did considerable damage to the vessel; the bowsprit was broken twice, by the force of the wind, with only the jib sail set; the boom likewise came down with great force, near where the captain was standing, but he fortunately escaped; several other parts of the rigging were much torn and injured. During the continuance of the storm, Brothers Hyde and Russell were very sick. After this we had more favorable weather.

"When we had been on the water two weeks, I asked permission of the captain for one of us to preach, which request was cheerfully complied with, and the second cabin was prepared for the occasion. Brother Russell preached, after which Brother Hyde made some observations; they were listened to with great attention, and the congregation appeared very much satisfied.

"The Lord gave us favor in the eyes of the captain and pa.s.sengers, who treated us with respect and kindness. One reason for obtaining this universal favor of the ship's company was, the steward of the ship had charge of a fine Durham cow, which was larger than the medium size of our oxen; the cow became sick and the steward was very sorry, because she was their only dependence to supply the cabin pa.s.sengers with milk. I went and looked at the cow and discovered that she could not raise her cud. I told the steward to cut for me a half dozen slices of fat pork, as large as my hand, which he did; and I gave them to the cow, when she soon got well. From that time forth the steward sent us turtle soup, wine, and every luxury the ship afforded, and made us many presents.

"May 12th, we came in sight of New York, and in the evening secured a landing, after a pa.s.sage of twenty-two and a half days."

It will be remembered that the _Garrick_, on its first voyage, bearing these Elders to England, won a wager of ten thousand dollars, arriving at Liverpool a few lengths ahead of the packet ship _South America_, both vessels having left New York at the same time, and keeping in sight of each other during the whole of the way. Another victory was now scored by the _Garrick_ in arriving at the port of New York.

Was it because these Mormon Apostles were again on board, returning themselves from a great spiritual contest, in which G.o.d had given them the victory? Judge, reader, for yourself. Here is the Apostle Heber's record of the event:

"There was a wager made at Liverpool whether the _New England_ or the _Garrick_ would arrive in port first. When we pa.s.sed Sandy Hook the _New England_ was four or five miles ahead of us; some of our officers remarked she would go in before us, but I told them she would not, as I had said at Liverpool we would go in first. At this time neither of the ships were sailing more than three knots an hour, when suddenly the wind left the sails of the _New England_, and a fair wind struck our sails, and we ran in one hour ahead of her."

Continuing, the prophet Heber says:

"We landed and went into the city of New York with several of the pa.s.sengers, who purchased some refreshments, and after we returned, bade us partake with them, and we all rejoiced together; we then bowed before the Lord and offered up the grat.i.tude of our hearts for all His mercies, in prospering us on our mission, and bringing us safely across the mighty deep, to behold once more the land of our nativity, and the prospect of soon embracing our families and friends.

"Sunday, 13th, we went in search of Brother Fordham, whom we found after some trouble. He was glad to see us, and immediately took us to the house of Brother Wandel Mace, where we were glad to see our beloved brother Orson Pratt, who was then laboring in that city, and who, with his brother Parley P. Pratt, had been instrumental in bringing many into the kingdom there. And now I had the pleasure of witnessing the fulfillment of the prophecy I delivered to Brother Fordham when I started for England.

"We accompanied Brother Orson Pratt to the house where the Saints a.s.sembled to worship. We found about eighty persons a.s.sembled, all of whom had recently joined the Church. After singing and prayer, I was requested to give an account of our mission to England, which I did.

In the evening Elders' Russell and Hyde preached; afterwards some came forward and offered themselves as candidates for baptism. The short time we were in New York was spent very agreeably with the Saints.

"On the 14th we bade adieu to the brethren, and continued our journey by steamboat, railroad and ca.n.a.l, and arrived at Kirtland May 22nd, having been absent eleven months and nine days.

"I found my family in good health, and as comfortably situated as I could expect; our joy was mutual. The Saints likewise welcomed us home, for which I felt thankful to my heavenly Father.

"But my journey was not yet ended; for soon after my arrival in Kirtland I commenced making preparations to move my family to the State of Missouri, where Brother Joseph and the greater part of the authorities of the Church, and almost all the members who had any faith in Mormonism, had already removed. The cause of their removal to the west was the persecutions to which they were subject in Kirtland.

The brethren who yet resided there, although very kind and affectionate, were weak in the faith, in consequence of trials and temptations. This caused us to grieve exceedingly, and we resolved to cheer them up as much as we possibly could. We preached in the house of the Lord a few times, recounted our travels and the great success that had attended our labors; also the marvelous work which the Lord had commenced in England. They began to take courage, their confidence increased, their faith was strengthened, and they again realized the blessings of Jehovah.

"About the 1st of July I commenced my journey with my family, accompanied by Elders Orson Hyde, Erastus Snow and Winslow Farr, two brothers by the name of Badger, and the widow Beeman, with their families, numbering about forty souls. We took wagons to Wellsville, on the Ohio River, about a hundred and thirty miles; then took steamboat to St. Louis, also thence to Richmond on Missouri River.

Elder Hyde stayed at Richmond several days. We there procured wagons and went to Far West, where we arrived in safety on the twenty-fifth of July, and had a happy meeting with Joseph, Hyrum and Sidney, some of the Twelve, and numbers of our friends and brethren, some of whom were so glad to see us, that tears started in their eyes when we took them by the hand.