Life of Heber C. Kimball, an Apostle Part 51

"It is now twenty-four years lacking three days, since Joseph and Hyrum were taken away from us. Twenty-four years so fruitful in labor, so abundant in toil, so rich in experience! During that period Brother Heber has never wavered, never trembled. It may be said of him with as much truthfulness to-day, as was said by Brother Brigham on one occasion in Nauvoo, 'his knees never trembled, his hands never shook.' He has been faithful to G.o.d; he has been true to his brethren; he has kept his covenants; he has died in the triumphs of the faith; and as the Savior has said, 'that which is governed by law is preserved by law and perfected and sanctified by the same;' so will it be with him. He has gone to the paradise of G.o.d, there to await the time when this corruption shall put on incorruption, when this mortality shall put on immortality.

"My brethren and sisters, here is an incentive to us to be faithful. Contrast the death of this man with the death of the apostate--the traitor. Contrast the future--as it is revealed to us in the revelations of Jesus Christ--of this man, with the future of the renegade from the truth, and the wicked and those who love not G.o.d and who keep not His commandments. Are there any incentives presented to us this day to be faithful? They are too numerous for me to dwell upon or mention. There is every reason why we should be faithful. It is easier to keep the commandments of G.o.d than it is to break them. It is easier to walk in the path of righteousness than it is to deviate from it. It is easier and more pleasant to love G.o.d than it is to break His commandments.

"Then let us be true to G.o.d. Let us walk each day so that we may be worthy, when our life is ended, to a.s.sociate with him whose spirit inhabited this tabernacle that lies here, and with others who have gone before, and with those who remain, that we may dwell together with them eternally in the heavens; which may G.o.d grant, for Christ's sake, Amen."

PRESIDENT D. H. WELLS.

"It is a great calamity to humanity when a great and good man falls. Earth needs their services. Good men are too scarce. The loss is not so much to them as it is to us who remain--as it is to humanity who are still left to wield an influence against the wickedness which is on the earth, and to sustain holy and righteous principles which the Lord has revealed from the heavens for the guidance of man. Herein is the loss which we feel when such men as Bro. Kimball are taken away, He has made his mark. He has earned imperishable fame, and he will live in the hearts of the good, the true and the faithful--in the hearts of the just; and he will be remembered by the wicked, for he has often invaded the realms of darkness and sustained holy and righteous principles with all his might, power and influence, all the days of his life.

It is true, for him we need not mourn, because he has pa.s.sed to that home where Satan has no power. He has secured to himself a crown of eternal glory and righteousness in the celestial kingdom of our G.o.d. Not that he will come immediately unto this exaltation. The Savior of the world, himself, did not enter into His glory on the dissolution of His spirit and body; He went first to minister to the spirits in prison, being clothed with the holy Priesthood. So with our brother and beloved friend, for he is still our friend, and, as has been remarked, he was the friend of G.o.d and of all good men. He is not lost. He has only gone to perform another portion of the mission which he has been engaged in all his life, to labor in another sphere for the good of mankind, for the welfare of the souls of men. But he has laid for himself a foundation that is imperishable, on which a superstructure of glory and exaltation will grow and increase throughout all eternity.

"I do not stand here to eulogize our friend and brother to-day, but to satisfy my own feelings and pay a tribute of respect to his memory, for I loved him and he loved me, and he loved this people.

He has friends also where he is gone. Who can answer the question whether they are more numerous than those who have a.s.sembled together to-day and those throughout this Territory? Who can say that they are not more numerous on yonder sh.o.r.e? Yet it matters not. Those who are faithful will yet be gathered with him and others, and come with him to a celestial glory, and with him dwell where there is no sorrow nor affliction. He rests from his labor, from the toil which surrounded him on the earth. This is, to-day, a source of consolation to his family and friends, to those who were intimately connected with him. They may be a.s.sured that he rests in peace. Let his example be followed; let his teachings be remembered; let us all live so that we may have a reasonable hope of meeting with him and being a.s.sociated with him in a never ending future.

"May G.o.d help us to be faithful unto the end, as he has been; to fight the good fight and keep the faith, that at last, with him and those who have gone before, we may be found worthy to walk the golden streets of that eternal city, whose builder and maker is G.o.d: Amen."

PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG.

"I wish the people to be as still as possible and not to whisper.

I do not know that I can speak so that you can hear me; but if I can I have a few reflections to lay before you. We are called here on this very important occasion, and we can say truly that the day of this man's death was far better to him than the day of his birth. I will relate to you my feelings concerning the departure of Brother Kimball.

"HE WAS A MAN OF AS MUCH INTEGRITY, I PRESUME, AS ANY MAN WHO EVER LIVED ON THE EARTH.

"I have been personally acquainted with him forty-three years and I can testify that he has been a man of truth, a man of benevolence, a man that was to be trusted. Now he has gone and left us. I will say to his wives and his children, that I have not felt one particle of death in his house nor about it, and through this scene we are now pa.s.sing I have not felt one particle of the spirit of death. He has fallen asleep for a certain purpose,--to be prepared for a glorious resurrection; and the same Heber C.

Kimball, every component particle of his body, from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet, will be resurrected, and he, in the flesh, will see G.o.d and converse with Him; and see his brethren and a.s.sociate with them and they will enjoy a happy eternity together.

"Brother Kimball has had the privilege of living and dying in his own house in peace; and has not been followed up by mobs and ma.s.sacred. I consider this a great consolation to his family and friends; and it is a great comfort to me to think that Brother Heber C. Kimball had the privilege of dying in peace. It is not a matter of regret; it is nothing that we should mourn for. It is a great cause of joy and rejoicing and comfort to his friends to know that a person has pa.s.sed away in peace from this life, and has secured to himself a glorious resurrection. The earth and the fullness of the earth and all that pertains to this earth in an earthly capacity, is no comparison with the glory, joy and peace and happiness of the soul that departs in peace. You may think I have reason to mourn. Brother Heber C. Kimball has been my first counselor for almost twenty-four years. I am happy to state, it is a matter of great joy to me; this is the third counselor that has fallen asleep since I have stood to counsel this people--and they have died in the faith, full of hope; their lives were filled up with good works, full of faith, comfort, peace and joy to their brethren. I have looked over this matter. In the fourteen years that Brother Joseph presided over the Church, three of the prominent counselors he had apostatized. This was a matter of regret. Sidney Rigdon, F. G. Williams and William Law, whom many of this congregation knew in Nauvoo, apostatized and left Brother Joseph. I have not been under the necessity of mourning and lamenting over the apostasy of any one of my counselors, and I hope I shall never have this to regret. I had rather bury them by the score than see one of them apostatize.

"A great deal could be said concerning Brother Kimball, whose remains are here. He is not dead. His earthly tabernacle has fallen asleep to be prepared for this glorious resurrection that you and I live for. What can we say to one another? Live as he has lived; be as faithful as he has been; be as full of good works as his life has manifested to us. If we do so, our end will be peace and joy, and we will fall asleep as peacefully. I held my watch with one hand and fanned him with the other, while he breathed his last.

"For this family to mourn is perhaps natural; but they have not really the first cause to do so. How would you feel if you had a husband or a father that would lead you from the truth? I would to G.o.d that we would all follow him in his example in our faithfulness, and be as faithful as he was in his life. To his wives, his children, his friends, his brethren and sisters, to this family whom G.o.d has selected from the human family to be his sons and daughters, I say let us follow his example. He has gone to rest. We can say of him all that can be said of any good man.

The Lord selected him and he has been faithful and this has made him a great man; just as you and I can become if we will live faithful to our G.o.d and our religion. There is no man but what can do good if he chooses; and if he be disposed to choose the good and refuse the evil. If any man choose the evil he will dwindle, especially if he has been called to the holy Priesthood of the Son of G.o.d. Such a man will dwindle and falter, stumble and fall; and instead of becoming great and good, he will be lost in forgetfulness.

"We pay our last respects unto Brother Kimball. I can say to the congregation, we thank you for your attention. We are happy to see you here. It would be a pleasure to us if it would be prudent, and we had time, for you to see the corpse; but it would not be prudent and we have not the time. This, perhaps, will be a matter of regret to many of you; but you must put up with it. I want to say to every one who wishes to see Brother Heber again, live so that you will secure to yourselves a part in the first resurrection, and I promise you that you will meet him and shake hands with him. But if you do not live so, I can give you no such promise.

"Now, my friends, I feel to bless you; and the family, the wives and the children of Brother Heber C. Kimball. I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ. Will you receive the blessings which a father and husband has placed upon your heads? If you live for them you will enjoy them. I think he has never cursed one of his family; but his heart was full of blessings for them. He has blessed his brethren and sisters and neighbors and friends. His heart was full of blessings; but he was a scourge to the wicked and they feared him. Now, my friends, I cannot talk to you, my sore throat will not let me. But I feel to thank you for your kind attention here to-day, in paying our respects to the remains of Brother Kimball, and may G.o.d bless you. Amen."

At the close of the President's remarks, the choir sang: "O my Father, Thou that dwellest," and Bishop Edwin D. Woolley p.r.o.nounced the benediction.

The procession then returned, proceeding to the spot selected by President Kimball as the final resting place of his mortal remains.

Here, beside the grave of his beloved Vilate, his body was entombed.

And now occurred a remarkable, though purely natural phenomenon. As the first clods of earth fell upon the coffin, the setting sun burst forth from his cloudy covering, shedding a golden halo of glory upon the scene, while instantaneously in the eastern horizon appeared a rainbow, the bright and beauteous token of promise, directly spanning the grave. It was no illusion; and as the last particles of mother earth were gathered above the still bosom that slept below, the rainbow dissolved.

So pa.s.sed from earth the immortal part of him whom men named Heber C.

Kimball; one of G.o.d's "n.o.ble and great ones," recalled with honor from the toils of time to share with Him the triumphs of eternity. Freed from his mortal prison-house of sorrow and of pain, his mission in this life completed, he sought once more the scenes and society of Home, in the realms of eternal rest.

Past angels, G.o.ds and sentinels, who guard The gates celestial, challengeless and free, That sovereign spirit soared unto its own; By shouting millions welcomed back again, With all his new-won laurels on his brow-- The meed of valor and of victory-- To exaltations endless as THE LIVES.

APPENDIX.

A GLIMPSE OF THE GREAT BEYOND--THRILLING EXPERIENCE OF DAVID PATTEN KIMBALL--LOST IN THE DESERT--COMMUNING WITH THE SPIRITS OF THE DEPARTED--DAVID PREDICTS HIS OWN DEATH AND THE DEATH OF FOUR OTHERS--THE FULFILLMENT.

The following narrative, under the caption of "A Terrible Ordeal," was originally published in a little volume called "Helpful Visions," the fourteenth book of the Faith-Promoting Series, issued from the office of the _Juvenile Instructor_, in 1887. It was edited then, as now, by the author of this work. Its relevancy to the present volume will be apparent as we proceed.

On the 22nd of November, 1883, David Patten Kimball, fourth son of Heber Chase and Vilate Murray Kimball, departed this life. Nearly two years before his death, he wrote to his sister Helen, in Salt Lake City, the letter from which the appended extract is taken. This letter was dated January 8th, 1882. David was then a resident of Jonesville, or Lehi, Arizona, three miles from Mesa, where the letter was written.

The experience related was of so remarkable a character as to meet with dubiety on the part of some, especially those inclined to be skeptical regarding spiritual manifestations. Some went so far as to ascribe the sights and scenes through which the narrator claimed to have pa.s.sed, to the fevered fancy of a mind disordered by strong drink. Nor is this surprising, when it is remembered that even the Apostles of Jesus, on the day of Pentecost, were accused of being "drunken with new wine," when the power of the Spirit fell upon them and they "spake with tongues and prophesied." Skepticism is the same in all ages. What is here presented is the plain and simple testimony of an honest man, who firmly adhered to it till the day of his death, which occurred in literal fulfillment of things told him "while in the spirit."

Here is the excerpt from David's letter. The events described took place while he was returning home from a trip to Prescott, the capital of Arizona, in the early part of November, 1881:

"On the 4th of November, I took a very severe cold in a snow storm at Prescott, being clad in light clothing, which brought on pneumonia or lung fever. I resorted to Jamaica ginger and pepper tea to obtain relief and keep up my strength till I could reach home and receive proper care. On the 13th I camped in a canyon ten miles west of Prescott, my son Patten being with me. We had a team of eight horses and two wagons. That night I suffered more than death. The next night we camped at Mr. McIntyre's, about twenty miles farther on. I stopped there two nights and one day, during which time I took nothing to drink but pepper tea. On the 16th we drove to Black's ranch, twenty-eight miles nearer home, and were very comfortably located in Mr. Black's house.

"About 11 p. m. I awoke and to my surprise saw some six or eight men standing around my bed. I had no dread of them but felt that they were my friends. At the same time I heard a voice which seemed to come from an eight square (octagon) clock on the opposite side of the house. It commenced talking and blackguarding, which drew my attention, when I was told to pay no attention to it. At this point I heard the most beautiful singing I ever listened to in all my life. These were the words, repeated three times by a choir: 'G.o.d bless Brother David Kimball.' I at once distinguished among them the voice of my second wife, Julia Merrill, who in life was a good singer. This, of course, astonished me. Just then my father commenced talking to me, the voice seeming to come from a long distance. He commenced by telling me of his a.s.sociations with President Young, the Prophet Joseph and others in the spirit world, then inquired about his children, and seemed to regret that his family were so scattered, and said there would be a great reformation in his family inside of two years. He also told me where I should live, also yourself and others, and a great many other things. I conversed freely with father, and my words were repeated three times by as many different persons, exactly as I spoke them, until they reached him, and then his words to me were handed down in a like manner.

"After all this I gave way to doubt, thinking it might be only a dream, and to convince myself that I was awake, I got up and walked out-doors into the open air.

"I returned and still the spirit of doubt was upon me. To test it further I asked my wife Julia to sing me a verse of one of her old songs. At that, the choir, which had continued singing, stopped and she sang the song through, every word being distinct and beautiful. The name of the song was, 'Does He Ever Think of Me.'

"My eyes were now turned toward the south, and there, as in a large parquette, I beheld hundreds, even thousands, of friends and relatives. I was then given the privilege of asking questions and did so. This lasted for some time, after which the singing commenced again, directly above me. I now wrapped myself in a pair of blankets and went out-doors, determined to see the singers, but could see nothing, though I could hear the voices just the same. I returned to my couch and the singing, which was all communicative and instructive, continued until the day dawned. All this time the clock I have mentioned continued its cursing and blackguarding.

"Mr. and Mrs. Black were up in due time and got breakfast. I arose and made my toilet, plain as it was, and took breakfast with my host and hostess. When my boy got ready to start, I went to pay my bill, and to my surprise heard a voice say or communicate: 'David Kimball has paid his bill.' When I got into the wagon, my guards, or those who were around my bed during the night, were still with me. My father had told me that he and President Young and others would visit me the next night.

"We drove on until about 11 a. m., when a host of evil spirits made their appearance. They were determined to destroy me, but I had power of mind to pay no attention to them, and let them curse all day without heeding them any more than possible. Five times they made a rush _en ma.s.se_ to come into the wagon, the last one, where I was, but were kept off by my friends (spiritual). About 2 p. m. I told my boy to stop and we would water our horses. We used for this purpose barrels that we had along with us. After this I walked to the west side of my wagons, and looking to the east, I saw and heard the evil spirits floating in the air and chanting curses upon Brigham Young. I saw two other groups of the same kind, but did not hear them. Then I looked to the south, and the whole atmosphere was crowded with fallen spirits, or those who had not obtained bodies. Others who tried to torment me were spirits who had lived upon the earth. Having seen so many and being complimented by my guard for seeing so well, I became a little timid and asked my spiritual friends if they had any help.

The answer was, 'Yes, plenty.' I now told my boy to drive on--he was entirely oblivious of all that was taking place with me--and soon after I was so exhausted that I fell into a troubled sleep and must have slept quite a little while.

"After I awoke I seemed to be left alone, and was lying on my back, when, all at once, I saw an old man and two young girls.

This vision coming on me so suddenly, I was startled, and finding my guard gone, I jumped out of the wagon and got up on the spring seat beside my boy. But I could not get away from them. I was told in a coa.r.s.e, gruff voice that the devil was going to kill me, and that he would follow me night and day until he destroyed me. I remembered the promise father had made me the night before--that he intended to visit me the next evening--and I nerved up and tried to pay no attention to my persecutors, but I must confess I was frightened.

"We arrived at Wickenburg just at sundown. The old man and the girls were tormenting and tantalizing me all the way, but never coming very near to me. We got supper and I took a room at Peeple's hotel and retired about 10 p. m. When everything was quiet my spirit friends, eight in number, returned and my tormentors were required to leave. Soon after, a glorious vision burst upon me. There were thousands of the Saints presented to me, many who had died at Nauvoo, in Winter Quarters, on the plains and in Utah.

"I saw Brother Pugmire and many others whom I did not know were dead. When my mother came to me it was so real and I was so overjoyed that I exclaimed aloud. So powerful was this vision that I asked President Young, who seemed to be directing matters, three times to relieve me, or I would faint. A great many others pa.s.sed in regular order; and I recognized nearly all of them, and was told the names of all I did not know. My father sat in a chair with his legs crossed and his hands clasped together, as we have often seen him. Those who pa.s.sed along had hidden him from my view till then.

"This scene vanished, and I was then taken in the vision into a vast building, which was built on the plan of the Order of Zion. I entered through a south door and found myself in a part of the building which was unfinished, though a great many workmen were busy upon it. My guide showed me all through this half of the house, and then took me through the other half, which was finished. The richness, grandeur and beauty of it defied description. There were many apartments in the house, which was very s.p.a.cious, and they differed in size and the fineness of the workmanship, according to the merits on earth of those who were to occupy them. I felt most at home in the unfinished part, among the workmen. The upper part of the house was filled with Saints, but I could not see them, though some of them conversed with me, my father and mother, Uncle Joseph Young and others.

"My father told me many things, and I received many reproofs for my wrong-doings. Yet he was loth to have me leave, and seemed to feel very badly when the time came for me to go. He told me I could remain there if I chose to do so, but I plead with him that I might stay with my family long enough to make them comfortable, to repent of my sins, and more fully prepare myself for the change. Had it not been for this, I never should have returned home, except as a corpse. Father finally told me I could remain two years, and to do all the good I could during that time, after which he would come for me; he mentioned four others that he would come for also, though he did not say it would be at the same time.

"On the 18th of November, about noon, we left Wickenburg (which is twenty-two miles from Black's Ranch where we stopped the previous night) on our journey home. I was exhausted from what I had experienced, and could feel my mind fast giving away, but I had confidence that I would reach home alive. There were no Elders to administer to me and no kind friends to look after my wants except my son, who had all he could do in looking after eight horses and two wagons. As my mind wandered and grew weaker, I was troubled and led by influences over which I had no power, and my friends, the good spirits, had all left me.

"We drove about twenty miles that afternoon, camping about eight miles from water, on the Salt River desert, which is about fifty miles across. During the fore part of the night I heard the horses running as though they were frightened. My son was asleep, but I got up and put my overcoat across my shoulders and went out where they were and got them quieted down. I was about to return to the wagon, when the same old man with gray whiskers, who had tormented me before, stepped between me and the wagons. He had a long knife in his hand. I was frightened and fled, he pursuing me and telling me he was going to kill me. What I pa.s.sed through I cannot describe, and no mortal tongue could tell. I wandered two days and three nights in the Salt River desert, undergoing the torments of the d.a.m.ned, most of the time, which was beyond anything that mortal could imagine.

"When my mind was restored, and the fever which had raged within me had abated, I found myself lying on a bleak hill-top, lost in the desert, chilled, hungered, thirsty and feeble. I had scarcely any clothing on, was barefooted, and my body full of cactus from head to foot. My hands were a perfect mat of thorns and briars.