fitted out Joseph with a suit of black clothes, and borrowed a black
horse. Joe (by his own account) repaired to the place of deposit, and
demanded the plates, which were in a stone box, unsealed, and so near
the surface of the ground that he could see one end of it; raising the
lid up, he took out the plates of gold; but fearing some one might
discover where he got them, he laid them down, to replace the top stone
as he had found it; when, turning round, to his surprise, there were no
plates to be seen. He again opened the box, and saw the plates in it; he
attempted to take them out, but was not able. He perceived in the box
something like a toad, which gradually assumed the appearance of a man,
and struck him on the side of his head. Not being discouraged at
trifles, Joe again stooped down and attempted to take the plates, when
the spirit struck him again, knocked him backwards three or four rods,
and hurt him very much: recovering from his fright, he inquired of the
spirit, why he could not take the plates; to which the spirit made
reply, "Because you have not obeyed your orders." He then inquired when
he could have them, and was answered thus: "Come one year from this day,
and bring with you your eldest brother; then you shall have them."

"This spirit," said the elder Joseph Smith, "was the spirit of the
prophet who wrote this book, and who was sent to Joe Smith, jun., to
make known these things to him. Before the expiration of the year, the
eldest brother died; which," the old man said, "was a decree of
Providence." He also added--

"Joe went one year from that day to demand the plates, and the spirit
inquired for his brother, and Joe replied that he was dead. The spirit
then commanded him to come again in one year from that day, and bring a
man with him. On asking who might be the man, he was answered that he
would know him when he saw him."

Thus, while Rigdon was concocting his Bible and preaching new doctrines,
the Smith family were preparing the minds of the people for the
appearance of something wonderful; and although Joe Smith was well known
to be a drunken vagabond, he succeeded in inspiring, in hundreds of
uneducated farmers, a feeling of awe which they could not account for. I
must here stop in my narrative, to make a few observations.

In the great cities of Europe and America, civilization, education, and
the active bustle of every-day life, have, to a great degree, destroyed
the superstitious feel