Orson F. Whitney

“ The newly arrived pilgrims had fallen on perilous times. Mobocracy was rife and rampant; persecution was raging against the Church, both in Ohio and in Missouri. The infernal regions seemed stirred to their depths at the prospect of a temple, whose walls, now climbing heavenward, gave promise of salvation and deliverance for the living and the dead; the unlocking of prison doors, the bursting of spirit dungeons, the smiting off of fetters from the limbs of the slave of sin, and the ushering forth of the penitent captive into the life and light of gospel liberty. ”

“ If there can be any pleasure in contemplating the separation of the body and spirit under any circumstances, then that chamber in which the earthly remains of Heber C. Kimball lay this morning was a place of joy. It was a scene of victory and triumph. A faithful, unflinching servant of God, one who had passed through the most severe ordeals with unyielding integrity, had met man's great enemy, and through the atonement of the Savior and the previous promises which he had given, had come off conqueror. What a host of faithful ones have awaited his arrival in the spirit world! ”

“ Heber C. Kimball was a humble man, and in his humility, no less than his kingly stature, consisted his dignity, and no small share of his greatness. It was his intelligence, earnestness, simplicity, sublime faith and unwavering integrity to principle that made him great, not the apparel he wore, nor the mortal clay in which his spirit was clothed. Nevertheless, nature had given him a noble presence in the flesh, worthy the godlike stature of his spirit. ”

“ And thus did the great state of Missouri redress the wrongs of ten thousand innocent people, robbed and trampled on without provocation by its mob militia, led on and fired to their deeds of blood and plunder by political demagogues and hireling priests of Christendom. And this in the broad daylight of the nineteenth century, in a land of religious liberty, on soil consecrated by the blood of patriots— ancestors of the people thus trampled on and despoiled—and in the presence of American judges, magistrates and priests, affecting the calling, but disgracing the name, of Christian! ”

“ But back of all was the eternal warfare of truth and error, battling each for the world's supremacy, and the mailed hand of Omnipotence pushing the chosen people along the thorn-strewn, blood-sprinkled path of a glorious destiny.
John C. Bennett, an individual who had wormed himself into the good graces of the Saints, like the serpent of old among the flowers of Eden, at this juncture apostatized, not finding the Church of God, with its pure and wholesome laws, a safe refuge for vice, or a suitable arena for the antics of rascality. ”

“ A lesson on love and unity is here given:
"The Gospel and plan of salvation that I have embraced, is music to me; it is sweet to my body, and congenial to my spirit; and it is more lovely than anything else I have ever seen since I have been in the world. I love it, and that is why I love this people better than any other people on God's earth, because there was never a better people; that is, I am speaking of the majority of them.
"The world considers it to be quite ridiculous for us to be of one heart and of one mind. ”

“ This preparatory work, like the work which was to follow, was both spiritual and temporal. In America, the sword of a Washington, the pen of a Jefferson had carved out the legend of liberty, "All men are equal," ere the Gospel trump was heard again proclaiming, to high and low, rich and poor, "Peace on earth, good will to men." In England, Victoria had ascended the throne, and the spirit of reform, in church and state, was rolling, a billow of victory, over the land. Society was moved to its center. ”

“ He was full of counsel, full of instruction, and he was always pointed in conveying his counsel in plainness to those to whom he imparted it.
"Have we any cause, in reality, to mourn to-day? Have we any cause for grief and sorrow? When I stood by his bedside and saw his spirit take its departure there was no death there; there was no gloom. I had seen but two persons die before, and they died by violence; but when I watched Brother Heber I asked myself, Is this death? Is this that which men represent as a monster, and from which they shrink with affright? ”

“ Atheism, thy home is not the boundless deep! Ocean, thou art religious, thou art worshipful, and throwest heavenward the thoughts of man as though they were thy spray!
Especially was it so with Heber and his companions, God-fearing men, upon whom rested the burden of a mission fraught with salvation to thousands. The solemnities of eternity encompassed them. They felt as little children in the presence of the Infinite. And children they were in their humility. ”

“ 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 God that we would all follow him in his example in our faithfulness, and be as faithful as he was in his life. ”

“ We have met at this time to pay the last tribute of respect to no ordinary personage, but to a good man who was called and chosen, and faithful; who has spent a lifetime in the cause of God, in the establishment of the principles of truth and in trying to upbuild the Church and Kingdom of God on the earth; who has endeared himself by his acts of kindness, affection, integrity, truthfulness and probity to the hearts of thousands of Latter-day Saints, who feel to mourn at this time with no ordinary sorrow. ”

“ Planet above planet, step by step, lustre upon lustre "until thou come nigh to Kolob;" Kolob, lord of light, king of kokaubeam, nearest unto the throne of God.
And shall it not be seen when all history is written, on earth as in heaven, where it exists as a prophecy; when all secrets are revealed and hidden things made known; that Time with all its ages is a chain, a climax, an ascending scale of dispensations, merging in each other, and all into one, like rills and rivers mingling with the ocean; that men and nations from the beginning have carved out the way for other men and nations ”

“ CHAPTER XX. THE MISSION OF ELIAS—THE SYMBOLISM OF THE UNIVERSE—THE PAST PREPARATORY TO THE PRESENT AND FUTURE—THE WAY PREPARED FOR THE FULNESS OF THE GOSPEL—THE "LESSER LIGHTS" OF ENGLAND—FIELDING, MATTHEWS AND AITKEN—THE STARS PALING BEFORE THE SUN. The mission of Elias is the mission of preparation, the lesser going before the greater, opening up the way. The day-star heralding the dawn. The wedge of truth piercing the wall of prejudice, cleaving the ranks of error, creating the gap through which shall ride on victory's flaming wheels, the chariot of Righteousness. ”

“ The power of unity and the courage of the righteous are thus portrayed:
"When Brother Brigham and myself and others left Kirtland to go to Missouri with Joseph Smith, was there any fear in us? No. It never entered into our hearts from the day we started to the time we returned. I had a spirit on me as much superior to this earth, as the earth is superior to the degraded spirits of the wicked that dwell on its face. It was the Spirit of the Lord that stood by me, and diffused strength into my body, and into my limbs, until the very hair of my head felt all alive. ”

“ And what of Oliver, and David, and Sidney, and scores of others who fell from grace, but many of whom, penitent at life's eleventh hour, returned to lay the offering of a broken heart and a contrite spirit upon the altar of God's infinite love? Will they not find mercy, and meet a judgment more just, than we in our narrow charity know how to mete out to the erring? ”

“ ELDER GEORGE A. SMITH. "The occasion which has called us together is truly one of mourning; but our mourning is not as the mourning of those who have no hope. Our father, our brother, our President, has fallen asleep. He has fallen asleep according to the promise that those who die unto the Lord should not die, but should fall asleep. Still, the circumstances with which, we are surrounded cause us to feel keenly, deeply this bereavement of his company, of his counsel, of his support, of his society, and the benefit of that wisdom which ever flowed from his lips. ”

“ No man, learned or unlearned, can build up God's Kingdom, except He be with him, and the Holy Ghost work through him. God is the doer of His work, not man, and no flesh can glory in His presence. It was the Holy Ghost in Paul, as it was the Holy Ghost in Peter, not the learning or illiteracy of either, that wrought the wonders of which they were capable.
The Holy Ghost dwells only in hearts that are pure and humble. Humility, next to virtue, is the one grand requisite of a servant of God. Pride and vanity are synonyms of weakness; humility, another name for strength. ”

“ It was during this time of famine, when the half starved, half-clad settlers scarcely knew where to look for the next crust of bread or for rags to hide their nakedness—for clothing had become almost as scarce with them as bread-stuffs—that Heber C. Kimball, filled with the spirit of prophecy, in a public meeting declared to the astonished congregation that, within a short time, "States goods" would be sold in the streets of Great Salt Lake City cheaper than in New York and that the people should be abundantly supplied with food and clothing. ”

“ When a man has fought the good fight; when he has finished his course; when he has been faithful, lived his religion and died as a man of God, what is there to mourn for? Why should we indeed be sorrowful? There is a church here on earth; there is a church also in the heavens. He has migrated from one, and has passed into the other.
"We have had leave us before, Joseph, Hyrum, David Patten, Willard, Jedediah, and a mighty host of good, virtuous, pure, holy and honorable men. Some have died, as it were, naturally; others have been violently put to death. ”

“ We have all to pass through the dark valley of the shadow of death, and as I said before, it matters little which way this occurs; but it does matter a great deal to us whether we are prepared to meet it or not; whether we have lived the life of the righteous; whether we have honored our profession; whether we have been faithful to our trust; whether we are prepared to associate with the spirits of the just made perfect, and whether when He who has said "I am the resurrection and the life" shall sound the trump we shall be prepared to come forth in the morning of the first resurrection. ”

“ At the same time there were hundreds and thousands living in wealth and splendor. I felt to exclaim, O Lord, how long shall these things exist! How long shall the rich oppress the poor, and have no more care or interest for them than the brutes of the field, nor half so much! When will distress and poverty cease, and peace and plenty abound! When the Lord Jesus shall descend in the clouds of heaven, then the rod of the oppressor shall be broken. ”

“ The Ohio mobbings, the Missouri persecutions, the martyrdom, the exodus, nor all that Zion's cause has suffered since, have imperilled it half so much as when mammon and the love of God strove for supremacy in the hearts of His people, and the Saints, for a time forgetful of their high calling, laid aside their spiritual mission and went groveling after "the beggarly elements of the world." ”

“ Does not the present foreshadow the future? Are not influences at work, even now; doctrines being taught, truths put forth by pulpit, play and press; discoveries made in art and science; antiquities unveiled and mysteries brought to light, that are surely paving the way for the revelations of Jesus Christ, past, present and to come? Is not the knowledge now possessed by the Saints, glorious though it be, but a foretaste, the antepast of a greater feast of knowledge yet to follow? ”

“ And when a man goes to sleep as Brother Kimball has done, no matter how, he lays aside the cares of this world; the weary wheels of life stand still, the pulse ceases to beat, the body becomes cold, lifeless and inanimate; yet at the same time the spirit still exists, has gone to join those who have lived before ”

“ 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 passed 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. ”