Dr. Lee and the Recorder.
By James White
Elder Charles Lee, a Swede, physician, and once a Seventh-day Adventist preacher of some ability, having rashly, and without reasonable excuse, torn away from his brethren, who have done all in their power to help him, now, through the columns of the Sabbath Recorder, offers himself to the Seventh-day Baptists. Elder Lee, having been instrumental in raising up several churches among the Swedes in Minnesota, had their confidence and sympathy, which gave him influence with them. And when he apostatized he drew about one-half of the Swedish brethren with him. But Dr. Lee was a spiritualist at the time he embraced the doctrines of the Seventh-day Adventists, and although he renounced spiritualism, his mind had been so racked by that terrible ism, and also by domestic troubles, that when he came among us he was hardly a sane man. At one time Elders Canright, Littlejohn, and Kilgore saw him at State Center, Iowa, without the use of his reason, without proper clothing, hatless, wandering—he knew not whither. For a time, however, he received that instruction and reproof which he needed to raise him from the mire into which he had fallen. But as soon as he threw off this restraint, and followed his own spirit, he became a wild fanatic, and gave himself up to the most fanciful expositions of the word of God, making himself and his faction the subjects of prophecy. Mrs. White was the woman Jezebel, and he asserted a hundred and one things on the authority of Charles Lee, too numerous and too silly to mention. As a consequence, sensible people could not receive his fancies, and he not only failed to bring people to the Sabbath, but a large portion of the faction he drew off have apostatized from the Sabbath. Elder Canright, who is at our side as we write, attended the Minnesota camp-meeting in June of the present summer, and there learned the present condition of Dr. Lee’s faction. According to his best knowledge and belief in the case, more than one-half this unfortunate faction have renounced the ancient Sabbath of the Lord, and the balance do not give Dr. Lee any support, neither would they go with him to the S. D. Baptists or anywhere else. Eld. Canright says that Bro. Norstrum, a Swedish preacher who used to travel with Dr. Lee, but did not follow him, says that Lee told him that when he was with the Seventh-day Adventists he had friends, but now he has none. Dr. Lee says in the Recorder that “there are with us nine churches.” But there were only five churches in Minnesota in their most prosperous days. The largest church was at Litchfield, but it has gone down entirely, leaving a very few who still observe the Sabbath. These did not go with Dr. Lee. He separated a few from the Scandinavian church in Chicago, who have all, or nearly all, renounced the Sabbath. Besides these, there are a few in Portland and New Sweden, Me., in a distracted and discouraged condition in consequence of Dr. Lee’s strange course. Besides these, we know of no churches of Sabbath-keeping Swedes in America. We deeply sympathize with our Swedish brethren who still adhere to the Sabbath, and have no doubt but their trials will work in the end for the good of the cause among their people. The American brethren, at an early date in the history of the cause, suffered greater losses several times than has been sustained by the apostasy of Dr. Lee. At one time fully three-fourths went off in a blind rebellion; but as nine-tenths of them left the Sabbath, their fall has been a warning to sensible people not to run off with ranting fanatics, who deal in smut and blacking as their principal stock in trade. But, to return to Dr. Lee; what seems most astounding is that the editor of the Sabbath Recorder should give such an article without first learning the facts in the case from us. The article itself shows that the writer is not friendly to us, and that he would gladly cast a prejudicial influence against the Seventh-day Adventists. Has the editor of the Recorder more confidence in a disaffected stranger than he has in a people whose history he knows, and with whom he took sweet counsel at our General Conference in 1875? The Seventh-day Adventists have done all in their power to come near to the S. D. Baptists, and to cultivate fraternal intercourse and Christian feelings with them. And neither the Review nor the Signs has contained a word unfriendly to that people, who were before us in revering the Sabbath of the Bible, while the Recorder seems willing to give just such articles as this from Dr. Lee. True, that paper has a certain right to publish what it pleases; and if it continues this course we shall not put on mourning; but if the Seventh-day Baptists really wish to reciprocate our charitable views of them, and our friendly feelings toward them, and thus labor to build up each other in the Lord and his truth, it will be an easy matter to convince Seventh-day Adventists of the fact by ceasing to give publicity to prejudicial articles in their leading organ. We shall see. We close with an extract from a letter from Elder Smith:— “It may be a matter of entertainment to you to know that Chas. Lee, having run out everywhere else, has got down on his marrow-bones before the S. D. Baptists, and begs them to take him up, pledging himself to do just as they want him to do. Not knowing that Bro. Canright has ordered his Recorder sent to Colorado, I send the paper containing his appeal. Next to taking up Lee, it seems to me they could not manifest greater weakness than is shown in publishing his letter.” J. W.