Reminiscences of Joseph, the Prophet, and the Coming Forth of the Book of MormonStevenson, Edward
Religion
Reminiscences of Joseph, the Prophet, and the Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon
Stevenson, Edward
Book of Mormon; Latter Day Saint churches; Smith, Joseph, Jr., 1805-1844
While Joseph was working for Mrs. Wells, to supply their daily wants
and to pay for the chest in which the plates were to be secured, a mob
of twelve men, headed by Mr. Willard Chase, a Methodist class leader,
and a certain conjurer whose special business was to divine the hiding
place of the gold plates, were heard to say:
"We will have that gold Bible in spite of all the devils in hell."
Father Smith, knowing that the plates were secreted away from home,
felt deep anxiety concerning their safety, and he induced Emma, the
Prophet's wife, who was living with the family, to go on horseback to
give warning to Joseph of the intentions of the mob. From an impression
Joseph had, he looked with the Urim and Thummim, which he had with
him, after which, meeting his wife with a smile, he informed her that
the plans of the mob would prove futile; that the plates were safe.
However, he returned home with his wife, and in the evening, after
procuring the chest, Joseph started for the plates, but as he was
returning home with them, he was waylaid and attacked three times, but
he finally escaped, although bruised and weary, bringing the plates
home in safety.
This was one of his first lessons and a fulfillment of the angel's
words to him.
Not long after this first experience, the Prophet was warned of a
second attempt to rob him of the treasure.
On this occasion he remembered the angel's charge in regard to using
every precaution, and the promise that if he was prayerful and careful
he should not lose them. A stone of the old-fashioned hearth was
removed and the plates and the breast-plate were concealed in a cavity
under the hearth. The stone had just been replaced, when a large armed
mob came rushing uproariously around the house. The door was thrown
open and were in the house, Joseph at their head, rushed out, when the
mob fled without their booty. A third attempt to obtain the plates was
also unsuccessfully made. This time the treasures were hid in some flax
in the loft of a cooper shop, and an empty box was hidden under the
floor. It was said that a young woman, aided by a peepstone, pointed
out the cooper shop as the repository of the "Gold Bible." During the
night the place was rummaged, the floor torn up and the box broken
to pieces. This was another experience, but the treasures were still
safely preserved. It was manifested to the Prophet that a facsimile
of characters must be copied and sent to the most learned professors
of the country, and that Martin Harris should be the bearer of them.
Before the Prophet could accomplish this desired object, however, he
was compelled to seek peace in Pennsylvania, for the whole country
around seemed determined to give Joseph no peace whatever. While the
servant of God was on his way from his father's house, to seek a
peaceful retreat, he was stopped on the highway twice by a mob of fifty
men, but as the necessary precaution had been observed by hiding the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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