PRESIDENT WILFORD WOODRUFF: He had listened with attention to the remarks of the previous speakers. He had not time to dwell upon the virtues of the deceased nor the consequences upon the nation for the shedding of the blood of the Lord's anointed. John the Revelator beheld, in his vision on the Isle of Patmos, the altar of God and under it the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, "how long, O Lord, holy and true, dost not thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" They were told that they must "rest yet for a little season until their fellow servants also, and their brethren that should be killed also as they were, should be fulfilled." [Revelation 6:9-11] Eighteen hundred years had elapsed and their brethren were being slain for their testi- mony. The speaker had witnessed many scenes like the present. He hoped he would not be called upon to behold many more, because they were most sorrowful. Persecution had been directed against all people who had lived in godliness, and we were having our turn. The Gospel fulness had been restored in these latter days through Joseph Smith. The Prophet lived fourteen years after he organized this kingdom, and by him every key of the Priesthood had been restored and was now held by men. We were command- ed to preach the Gospel, the principles of which were unpopular. It is the same now as it was in the days of Jesus and His Apostles. If those who per- secuted and slew them had known what would have been the result to the Jewish nation, they would not have acted as they did. So it is to-day with this nation. We would be under con- demnation did we not declare the mes- sage we have to deliver. The Elders are sent forth without purse or scrip and these two who have been slain in Tennessee would receive a martyr's crown. It was infinitely more desira- ble to be in their position than that of those who produced their death. It was now as anciently; the servants of God are called upon to offer the Gospel to the people and when they did and their message is rejected it is for them to cleanse their feet and testify of the fact to their Father in heaven, and woe unto those who repudiate the glad tidings of salvation and their bearers. The speaker had several times seen the blood of the martyrs shed in this dispensation, but although the Gospel message had been carried into nations afar off, in not one had the life of one of the Elders been taken except in this nation. The fact rendered him sor- rowful for his country. He had no vengeful feeling in his heart in relation to those who committed these fearful deeds; they were in the hands of God. The Saints should pray that God might have mercy upon this nation and upon all people. So far as the shedding of innocent blood was concerned there is no forgiveness for that sin in this world nor in the world to come. [Doctrine and Covenants 42:18] While we desire to avert such scenes as the one we commemo- rate, if we can consistently, we must not desert the cause of truth under any circumstances.