"If the people will give ear a moment, I will address a few words in my own defense. In the first place I will state to those who can hear me that I never spent more than six months in Missouri except the time I was in prison. While at Liberty, Missouri, I was at work for the support of my family. I never was a prisoner of war during my stay there, for I had not made war. I never took a gun, nor a pistol, nor a sword and what has been said by our enemies on that subject is false. I have always been willing to go to any governor, judge, or tribunal where justice could be had and have the matter investigated. I could not have committed treason as I had no control of affairs except in spiritual matters. I was driven from Missouri by force of arms under the exterminating order of Governor Boggs. I have always been a peaceable citizen, yet there is scarcely a crime that can be committed that is not laid at the door of Joseph Smith. I have been dragged before the courts time and again on charges that were false and every time I have been acquitted. As often as God sees fit for me to suffer I am ready, but I am as innocent of those crimes imputed as the angels in heaven. I am not an enemy to mankind, neither am I an enemy to Missouri, its governor, nor its people.
"As for the military station I hold and the reasons for holding it I have this to say: When we came here the state required us to bear arms and to do military duty. As the Church had just been driven from Missouri and our people had been robbed of their property and their arms had been taken from them, they, therefore, had no arms with which to do duty, yet they were liable to a fine if they did not respond to the orders of the state in the matter of military service even though they had no arms. I advised them to organize into independent companies and to ask the state for arms. This they did. There were, however, many elders who had license to preach. They are exonerated by the law from military duties. The officers, however, would not release them on those grounds. I then told the Saints that although I was free from military duty by law in consequence of a lameness in one of my legs I would set them an example and do military duty myself. They wanted me for their leader. From these circumstances and conditions the Nauvoo Legion came into existence and I was made Lieutenant General. It was not because I was seeking for power.
"There are those who say we all vote together and that our people vote as I say, but I never tell any man how to vote nor whom to vote for. Let me make a comparison. Suppose there were a Methodist society here, and that outside of that society there were two candidates running for office. One of them says: 'If you will elect me to the gubernatorial chair I will take away the charter of your city and exterminate the Methodists.' The other says: 'If I am elected all men shall be equal before the law, and I will discriminate against no man or society.' Now whom would the Methodists vote for? Certainly not for the man who was their bitter enemy and who would not protect them in their rights. It has been so with us. Joseph Duncan said if the people would elect him he would exterminate the Mormons, take away their charter. Mr. Ford made no such threats, but manifested a disposition to give every man his rights. The people, therefore, voted for him and he was elected governor. However, he has issued writs against me twice at the demands of the Missourians; this has caused me much trouble and expense."
During these remarks much prejudice was removed. There was present a vast multitude of about fifteen thousand people, many of whom were not members of the Church. They gave the strictest attention and were edified by what they saw and heard.
On the morning of July 7th, 1843, Wilford Woodruff rose early, blessed his wife and daughter, Phoebe, and in company with Brigham Young and Elder George A. Smith, started on a mission to the East to strengthen the branches of the Church there and gather funds for the Temple and the Nauvoo House. They left Morrison's landing on the steamer Rapid and arrived in St. Louis the next day. Here Elder Woodruff purchased supplies for the "Times and Seasons" and shipped them to Nauvoo. The day following the missionary party boarded the steamer Lancet and went up the Ohio to Cincinnati, where they landed on the 13th, their sixth day from Nauvoo. Enroute they obtained a view of the tomb of President Harrison.
On the night of their arrival in Cincinnati, Elder Woodruff dreamed that Joseph would again be arrested and tried in Illinois, and the same night Brigham Young dreamed that the Twelve were called home. These dreams were the preparation for coming events which cast their shadows before. The hearts of those brave men and devoted missionaries were receiving a preparation for the troublous times that were to come.
In Cincinnati Elder Woodruff made further purchases for the "Times and Seasons." From that city they went on to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, with the steamer Adelaide. They reached the place at six p. m. and immediately repaired to the Temperance Hall, where a meeting of the Saints was convened. Here they met Elders Heber C. Kimball, Orson Pratt, and John E. Page. The last named was preaching as they entered the hall; and, contrary to the counsel of the Prophet, Elder Page was making war upon sects of the day. Next day the Twelve held a council, in which John E. Page was severely reproved by President Young for disorganizing a branch in Cincinnati which three of the Twelve had just before that time organized, and for disobeying the Prophet's counsel in the matter of preaching against religious denominations. These acts of disobedience to the counsels of his file-leaders had, no doubt, something to do with his apostasy later on.
Elder Woodruff never forgets to put in his journal the historical items of general interest and speaks of Pittsburg as a city which at that time numbered about thirty-five thousand inhabitants. The city had ninety-five churches, one hundred and twenty preachers, and twenty-one denominations. The Latter-day Saints numbered there at that time seventy-five souls.
On Sunday, the 30th, six of the Twelve Apostles met in conference with the Saints in Temperance Hall. They held three meetings and imparted many valuable instructions to the Saints and visitors in attendance. Elder Woodruff took minutes of the meeting and noted especially the teachings of President Young, as he attached most importance to the words of the man standing highest in authority when giving an account of what was said on any occasion. President Young on this occasion bore a strong testimony to the divinity of the work and to the mission of the Prophet Joseph. "Who," he said, "is the author of this work? God is its author, Joseph Smith being the instrument in the hands of God. He is the greatest man on earth. No other man of this age has power to gather such a great people from all the nations of the earth and with all their peculiar dispositions cement them together. This the Prophet is doing by the power of God, as the Saints are led by the Holy Spirit in their own hearts."
July the 30th the members of the Twelve made a tour of the city. They visited the glass-works, the water-works, and other places of note and interest. Speaking of the water-works, Elder Woodruff says: "Descending the hill we had a view of the city water-works. The building was patterned after Roman architecture. The works cost two hundred thousand dollars. The building was designed by Elder Charles Beck, who was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." Elder Beck was present at the visit of the Twelve to Pittsburg and showed them every courtesy. He further paid the railroad fare of the six members to Baltimore.