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."