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: