Life of Heber C. Kimball, an Apostle. Orson F. Whitney

to look round, and about that time the horn blew to call us to dinner. We started back to his house; he never spoke or said one word to me, appearing rather confounded. The next Sabbath such a congregation of hearers I had never seen in the United States; for priests and people had come for twenty-five miles distance, to see and hear that "Mormon" who had performed a thing that had never before been done in that country, for Brother Chapin had proclaimed this occurrence unknown to me. I tarried several days in those regions, preaching and baptizing.

      "August 25th, while we were assembled for a meeting our hearts were filled with joy by the arrival of Joseph Smith, Sen., the patriarch, and his brother John Smith, who were on a mission to bless the churches in the eastern states.

      "On the 27th, the church, numbering twenty, that I had baptized, came together and received patriarchal blessings under the hands of President Joseph Smith, Sen.

      "Sunday, 28th, Father John Smith preached at 10 a. m., and four of us bore testimony to the Book of Mormon and the truth of the work. In the afternoon we administered the sacrament, confirmed three and blessed the little children of the branch.

      "Monday, 20th, we ordained Levi Chapin a Teacher and Alvin Simons an Elder to watch over the church. I then went to Black Lake, preached and baptized one; then preached at Potsdam and baptized another. Returned to the township of Oswegatchie, called the church together at Ogdensburg, which numbered twenty-eight, and bade them farewell. I left the church rejoicing in the Lord, and many around believing the testimony.

      "Thence I pursued my journey to Victor, Ontario County, where I met Vilate, my wife, who was visiting her friends, and I tarried a few days with them. Thence we pursued our journey to Buffalo. Here a magistrate came forward and paid five dollars for our passage to Frankfort, a distance of one hundred and eighty miles. The passengers were chiefly Swiss emigrants. After sitting and hearing them for some time, the Spirit of the Lord came upon me, and I was enabled to preach to them in their own language. They seemed much pleased and treated us kindly. We had a very heavy gale while going up the lake, so that every passenger almost and some of the hands were very sick. Many were frightened, and one woman died, she being very feeble when she came on board. But we reached our destination without accident, and arrived in Kirtland, October 2nd. I was gone nearly five months, visited many of my friends, preached much, and baptized thirty. This was the first mission I took alone. The Lord was with me and blessed me, and confirmed the word with signs following."

CHAPTER XIII.

       Table of Contents

      THE WORSHIP OF MAMMON—THE TEMPORAL ABOVE THE SPIRITUAL—THE KIRTLAND BANK—FINANCIAL DISASTERS—APOSTASY—HEBER SORROWS OVER THE DEGENERACY OF THE TIMES.

      "Ill fares the land; to hastening ills a prey,

       Where wealth accumulates and men decay."

      During the absence of Apostle Kimball in the east, a grievous change had come over the Church in Kirtland. The greed of gain, the spirit of speculation was abroad in the land. Mammon had reared his altars on consecrated ground; the money-changer was within the temple. The love of the things of earth had usurped, in many hearts, the love of the things of heaven, and comparatively few were free from the soul-destroying influence of idolatry. Idolatry? Yes; the bowing down to the modern Baal, the worship of wealth—the god of gold—the lust after the ways and pleasures of the world.

      The order of Christ's kingdom is the order of creation: firstly spiritual, secondly temporal. When this order is subverted, "chaos is come again." Sorrow is the inevitable consequence of apostasy from the spiritual to the temporal. "To be carnally-minded is death; but to be spiritually-minded is life and peace." Does not the fall of man illustrate this principle? Can he descend from heaven to earth without causing and enduring pain?

      The spiritual must sway the temporal, the earthly be ruled by the heavenly. How else shall it be sanctified? It is the spirit in man that moves the body, not the body the spirit. In the Church, Christ's body, the spiritual must reign supreme. The temporal on the heart's throne is ever the usurper; the spiritual crowned and sceptred, ruler by right divine.

      Jacob is spiritual; Japheth is temporal. The mission of Israel and the mission of the Gentiles are as the poles antipodal; God's ways and man's ways, as heaven and earth apart.

      "We were very much grieved," says Heber, "on our arrival in Kirtland, to see the spirit of speculation that was prevailing in the Church. Trade and traffic seemed to engross the time and attention of the Saints. When we left Kirtland a city lot was worth about $150; but on our return, to our astonishment, the same lot was said to be worth from $500. to $1000., according to location; and some men, who, when I left, could hardly get food to eat, I found on my return to be men of supposed great wealth; in fact everything in the place seemed to be moving in great prosperity, and all seemed determined to become rich; in my feelings they were artificial or imaginary riches. This appearance of prosperity led many of the Saints to believe that the time had arrived for the Lord to enrich them with the treasures of the earth, and believing so, it stimulated them to great exertions, so much so that two of the Twelve, Lyman E. Johnson and John F. Boynton, went to New York and purchased to the amount of $20,000 worth of goods, and entered into the mercantile business, borrowing considerable money from Polly Voce and other Saints in Boston and the regions round about, and which they have never repaid."

      The Prophet Joseph says of those times: "The spirit of speculation in lands and property of all kinds, which was so prevalent throughout the whole nation, was taking deep root in the Church. As the fruits of this spirit, evil surmising, fault-finding, disunion, dissension and apostasy followed in quick succession, and it seemed as though all the powers of earth and hell were combining their influence in an especial manner to overthrow the Church at once and make a final end. The enemy abroad and apostates in our midst united in their schemes, flour and provisions were turned towards other markets, and many became disaffected towards me, as though I were the sole cause of those very evils I was strenuously striving against, and which were actually brought upon us by the brethren not giving heed to my counsel."

      During this period, the Kirtland Safety Society was organized, with a view to controlling the prevailing sentiment and directing it in legitimate channels. The ablest and staunchest men in Israel, including the Prophet and most of the Apostles, were made officers and members of the association.

      Then came the financial crash of 1837, by which so many of the banking and business houses of the country were prostrated. Nearly all the banks, one after another, suspended specie payment, "and gold and silver rose in value in direct ratio with the depreciation of paper currency." The Kirtland Bank shared a similar fate to many others, and went down in the whirlpool of financial ruin. One of the causes alleged for its failure was the misfeasance of some of those who were entrusted with the funds of the Bank. Heber says that Warren Parrish, one of the clerks, "afterwards acknowledged that he took $20,000, and there was strong evidence that he took more. Those of integrity in the Church replaced the stolen money at the expense of all they had." A counterfeit, falsely reputed to have been issued by the Bank, was also used by its enemies as a means to effect its overthrow.

      As usual the onus of responsibility was placed upon the shoulders of the Prophet, although he had withdrawn from the institution some time before. He was falsely accused of dishonesty and fraud, and condemned beyond measure, by men in and out of the Church, as though he were the sole and intentional cause of the catastrophe.

      "This order of things," continues Heber, "increased during the winter to such an extent that a man's life was in danger the moment he spoke in defence of the Prophet of God. During this time I had many days of sorrow and mourning, for my heart sickened to see the awful extent that things were getting to. The only source of consolation I had, was in bending my knees continually before my Father in Heaven, and asking Him to sustain me and preserve me from falling into snares, and from betraying my brethren as others had done; for those who apostatized sought every means and opportunity to draw others after them. They also entered into combinations to obtain wealth by fraud and every means that was evil.

      "At