"Like the frail ivy to the oak,
Drawn closer, by the tempest riven,
Through sorrow's flood he'll bear me up
And light with smiles my way to heaven.
"The gift was on the altar laid;
The plighted vow on earth was given;
The seal eternal has been made,
And by his side I'll reign in heaven.
WINTER QUARTERS,
January 17, 1847."
The last verse of this beautiful little poem delicately tells the whole story of the sacrifice made by this noble and devoted pair, and the reward of their fidelity in accepting the great principle whose "seal eternal" had bound them together for time and all eternity.
The Apostles returned from their mission to the east on the 22nd of October, 1843. Heber's purely missionary labors were drawing to a close. The hour of the Prophet's martyrdom was approaching, and upon the shoulders of the Twelve, as the First Presidents of the Church, was about to roll the burden of the kingdom of the latter days.
CHAPTER XLVIII.
HEBER'S LAST MISSION TO THE GENTILES—JOSEPH SMITH A CANDIDATE FOR THE PRESIDENCY OF THE UNITED STATES—THE APOSTLES HIS ELECTIONEERERS—THE MARTYRDOM—RETURN OF THE TWELVE TO NAUVOO.
On the 21st of May of the fateful year 1844, Heber C. Kimball left Nauvoo on his last mission to the Gentiles. He accompanied President Brigham Young and other Apostles and Elders, about one hundred in all. The object of their mission was unique. It was to present to the nation the name of Joseph Smith as a candidate for the presidency of the United States.
The steamer Osprey, on which the Elders took passage for St. Louis, left the wharf at Nauvoo amid the cheers and acclamations of those on shore, who shouted: "Joseph Smith, the next President of the United States!"
Alas! little knew those faithful souls, who went forth full of hope and patriotism that bright May morning, that they had looked their last upon the living features of their beloved Prophet, whom they were thus offering as a political savior to the nation; that within six weeks, while they were yet absent on their errand, a deed would be done which, for cruelty and atrocity, and for fearful consequences upon the guilty—shedders of innocent blood!—must stand without a parallel in the annals of modern crime.