Book of Mormon: support for the 'stone in a hat' translation method from an early, unique source

In my preceding, last six posts on Mormonism (link), I focused on the recent paradigm shift within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints concerning the 'translation' method of the Book of Mormon. The long held view that the Book of Mormon was translated by Joseph Smith via the use of the 'gold' plates and spectacles which were buried together in the Hill Cumorah, is being replaced by the use of a single 'seer stone' in a hat without the plates being used.

On Thursday, I discovered in an early, unique source, certain comments which support the latter process. To my knowledge, no LDS scholar who has written on the subject of the translation method of the Book of Mormon has mentioned this source. The source is a book written in 1854 by the notable 19th century Catholic convert, Orestes Augustus Brownson, under the title, Spirit-Rapper: An Autobiography. Brownson was a prodigious author—The Works of Orestes Brownson (20 volumes) contains more than 12,000 pages. Prior to this week, I had read only his contributions on the subject of doctrinal development, and had no knowledge of the aforementioned book. It was on Wednesday that I learned of the existence of this book via an article published on the The Catholic World Report website under the title: "The devil always leaves us in the lurch" (link). From the article, we read:

If weirdness were an Olympic sport, the American nineteenth century would have a closet full of gold medals.

But out of that weirdness comes the strange and compelling figure of Orestes Brownson, a Catholic convert who wrote an equally strange and compelling book: The Spirit-Rapper: an Autobiography. Newly reissued by Cluny Media under the (improved) title Like a Roaring Lion, Brownson’s 1854 book dissects some of the biggest bad ideas of his day, and warns of a menacing darkness that lurks beneath them. But Brownson’s novel also speaks to us today about the errors and practices that open our souls to the work of the devil.

I ordered the book, but could not wait to receive it, so I looked for the 1854 edition online, finding a PDF copy (link), that I downloaded and read. Note the following:

Much nonsense has been vented by the press about the origin of his Bible, or the Book of Mormon. The most ridiculous as well as the most current version of the affair is, that the book was originally written as a novel, by one Spalding, a Presbyterian minister in Pennsylvania, and that Joe got hold of the manuscript and published it as a new Bible. This version is refuted by a simple perusal of the book itself, which is too much and too little to have had such an origin. In his normal state, Joe Smith could never have written the more striking passages of the Book of Mormon ; and any man capable of doing it, could never have written any thing so weak, silly, utterly unmeaning as the rest. No man ever dreamed of writing it as a novel, and who ever had produced it in his normal state, would have made it either better in its feebler parts, or worse in its stronger passages.

The origin of the book was explained to me by one of Joe's own elders, on the authority of the person who, as Joe's amanuensis, wrote it. From beginning to end, it was dictated by Joe himself, not translated from plates, as was generally alleged, but apparently from a peculiar stone, which he subsequently called his Urim and Thummim, and used in his divination. He placed the stone in his hat, which stood upon a table, and then taking a seat, he concealed his face in his hat above it, and commenced dictating in a sleep-waking state, under the influence of the mysterious power that used or assisted him. I lived near the place where the book was produced. I had subsequently ample means of investigating the whole case, and I availed myself of them to the fullest extent. For a considerable time the Mormon prophets and elders were in the habit of visiting my house. They hoped to make me a convert, and they spoke to me with the utmost frankness and unreserve. (Pages 165, 166 - bold emphasis mine.)

I find it more than a bit interesting that Brownson's comments concerning the origin of the Book of Mormon, are virtually identical to the method now being endorsed by LDS scholars who have been working on Joseph Smith Papers project—minus the "sleep-waking state"—which elements include: that it was Joseph Smith alone, and not some other person or persons like Spalding, who produced the English 'translation'; the 'translation' method did not utilize the plates; Joseph dictated the book to his amanuensis while using a stone in a hat, into which he concealed his face.

Now, in my January 7, 2018 post (link), I asked the following question:

WHY has Kirkham's and Nibley's assessments been jettisoned by so many 21st century LDS scholars?

Though Brownson's comments seem to support the new paradigm shift promoted by a good number of 21st century LDS scholars, I still believe that my question remains valid.

Grace and peace,

David

*UPDATE (April 14, 2018): I am in the process of attempting to find any references to Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, Mormonism et al., that Orestes Augustus Brownson may have made in his extensive corpus. Just moments ago, I found the following article in Dialogue - A Journal of Mormon Thought:

"I Consdier the Proper Authority Rests Among the Mormons": Oran Brownson to Orestes Brownson on Oran's Conversion to Mormonism

The following from the article is germane to this post:

Orestes demonstrated his interest in Mormonism by addressing the subject throughout his prolific writing career. In the Spirit-Rapper, published in 1854, Brownson associated Mormonism with spiritualism and mesmerism, movements rapidly gaining adherents in America of the 1850s. Referring to Smith’s use of a divining rod, he stated that “every mesmerizer would at once have recognized him as an impressible subject.” Brownson ridiculed the Spaulding theory of the origins of the Book of Mormon; he likewise denied that Smith without assistance could have authored the book. Brownson accurately described the translation process as having occurred by the use of a seer stone placed in a hat, a description he had learned from “one of Joe’s own elders, on the authority of the person who, as Joe’s amanuensis, wrote it.” Having deemed Smith incapable of producing the Book of Mormon on his own, Brownson concluded that “there was a superhuman power employed in founding the Mormon church,” asserting that direct satanic intervention explained both the Book of Mormon and Mormon miracles. In short, “Mormonism is literally the Synagogue of Satan.” (Page 194)

And so, I can now say that I know of one "LDS scholar who has written on the subject of the translation method of the Book of Mormon [who] has mentioned this source."