"MY EVER KIND AND AFFECTIONATE COMPANION:
"I write these few lines for you to look upon when you are far distant from me, and when you read them remember they were penned by one whose warm, affectionate heart is ever the same towards you; yea, it is fixed, firm as a decree which is unalterable. Therefore, let your heart be comforted, and if you never more behold my face in time, let this be my last covenant and testimony unto you: that I am yours in time and throughout all eternity. This blessing has been sealed upon us by the Holy Spirit of promise, and cannot be broken only through transgression, or committing a grosser crime than your heart or mine is capable of, that is, murder.
"So be of cheer, my dearest dear,
For we shall meet again
Where all our sorrows will be o'er,
And we are free from pain.
"V. KIMBALL."
Heber's full heart responded as follows:
"O God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Jesus Christ wilt Thou bless her with peace and with a long life; and when Thou shalt see fit to take her, let Thy servant go with her; and dwell with each other throughout all eternity; that no power shall ever separate us from each other; for Thou, O God, knowest we love each other with pure hearts. Still, we are willing to leave each other from time to time, to preach Thy word to the children of men. Now, O God, hear Thy servant, and let us have the desires of our hearts; for we want to live together, and die, and be buried, and rise and reign together in Thy kingdom with our dear children; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Amen."
This tender interchange of affection, be it remembered, was after Heber and Vilate had embraced the principle of plural marriage; a point which fails to sustain the position assumed by most Christian philosophers, as to the "brutalizing and debasing effects of Mormon polygamy."
Here is another little gem of Vilate's, written several years later:
LINES WRITTEN BY VILATE KIMBALL TO HER COMPANION HEBER C. KIMBALL.
"No being round the spacious earth
Beneath the vaulted arch of heaven,
Divides my love, or draws it thence,
From him to whom my heart is given.