tion to _The Colored American_, under the caption of which
it appeared March 4, 1837. Bell then called to his assistance Charles
B. Ray who served him as general agent. Traveling as such he went
through all parts of the North, East, and West writing letters to
present to the public his observations and experiences and lecturing
while speaking of the claims of his paper as the champion of the slave
and the organ of thought for the free Negro.[5]

Ray rose to the position of one of the proprietors of _The Colored
American_ in 1838 and upon the withdrawal of Bell from the enterprise
the following year, he became the sole editor and continued in that
capacity until 1842 when he suspended publication. He was regarded by
his contemporary, William Wells Brown, as a terse and vigorous writer
and an able and eloquent speaker well informed upon all subjects of
the day. "Blameless in his family relations, guided by the highest
moral rectitude, a true friend to everything that tends to better the
moral, social, religious and political condition of man. Dr. Ray,"
says Brown, "may be looked upon as one of the foremost of the leading
men of his race."[6]

That the paper ceased to be was no reflection on Ray's ability to
conduct the journal, for he manifested evidences of unusual editorial
ability and his writings were always strong in the advocacy of liberty
and justice. The failure of the enterprise was due to the fact that
there were not quite 400,000 free Negroes in the United States at that
time and the small number of readers among them were so unhappily
dispersed throughout the country that it was difficult to secure
enough support for such an enterprise. At this time _The Colored
American_ was the only paper in the United States devoted to the
interest of the Negro published by a man of color. Its objects were
the "more directly moral, social, and political elevation and
improvement of the free colored people; and the peaceful emancipation
of the enslaved." It, therefore, advocated "all lawful as well as
moral measures to accomplish those objects."[7] Feeling that this
journal should not be narrow in restricting its efforts to better the
condition of the people of color in this country, the editor
proclaimed his interest in behalf of such people of all countries of
the universe and his concern in the reforms of the age and whatever
related to common humanity.

Concerning this paper the _Herald of Freedom_ said the following: