Brigham Young, on
June 17, 1877, related the following: "I lived right in the country
where the plates were found from which the Book of Mormon was translated,
and I know a great many things pertaining to that country. I believe
I will take the liberty to tell you of another circumstance that will
be as marvelous as anything can be. This is an incident in the life
of Oliver Cowdery, that he did not take the liberty of telling such
things in meeting as I take.
"I tell these things
to you, and I have a motive for doing so. I want to carry them to the
ears of my brethren and sisters, and to the children also, that they
may grow to an understanding of some things that seem to be entirely
hidden from the human family. Oliver Cowdery went with the Prophet Joseph
when he deposited these plates. Joseph did not translate all of the
plates; there was a portion of them sealed, which you can learn from
the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. When Joseph got the plates, the
angel instructed him to carry them back to the Hill Cumorah, which he
did.
"Oliver says that
when Joseph and Oliver went there, the hill opened, and they walked
into a cave, in which there was a large and spacious room. He says he
did not think, at the time, whether they had the light of the sun or
artificial light, but that it was just as light as day. They laid the
plates on a table; it was a large table that stood in the room. Under
this table there was a pile of plates as much as two feet high, and
there were altogether in this room more plates than probably many wagon
loads; they were piled up in corners and along the walls.
"The first time they
went there the SWORD OF LABAN hung upon the wall; but when they went
again it had been taken down and laid upon the table across the gold
plates; it was unsheathed, and on it was written these words: 'This
sword will never be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world
become the kingdom of our God and his Christ." I tell you this is coming
not only from Oliver Cowdery, but others who were familiar with it,
and who understood it... I take the liberty of referring to those things
so they will not be forgotten and lost."
(19 Journal of Discourses 38)
