Page:The Afro-American Press.djvu/41

Rh by Anti-Slavery Advocates, prominent among whom must be noticed that fearless and generous defender, Mr.Tappan. In "The Life of Mr. Tappan" occurs this passage: "The paper was intended to be the organ of the colored Americans." Its columns were filled with excellently selected and original matter It ably advocated the emancipation of the enslaved and the elevation of the free colored people; and to this end it urged on the whites the abolition of caste and on their own people a thorough education.

Gifted men among the people of New York and elsewhere, (and there were not a few of them,) had an opportunity that was well worth improving of addressing their people and the public at large, through the columns of this excellent paper.

The proprietor, Mr. Bell, was known and respected for the work he did for the race in the newspaper field. He was one of those men who not only gave his literary ability to the cause but his money also, and died in destitute circumstances, after fifty years of earnest and persistent work for his race.

At the time of his death he was more experienced, older, and abler, than any of his associates. He longed to see Afro-American journalism a fixed thing in this country, and he did not die without the sight.

Wm. Welles Brown, in his "Rising Sun," says, "Mr. Bell's enthusiastic admirers regarded him as the Napoleon of the Afro-American Press. The person of Mr. Bell, as described by Mr. Brown in his volume, is as follows: "He is medium in size, dark complexion, pleasing countenance, and very gentlemanly in his manners."

After the retirement of Mr. Cornish, Mr. Bell had as co-editor, Dr. James McCune Smith, of whom much has been said as a writer and contributor. Wm. Welles Brown, in chronicling the success of Dr. Smith as a writer, says: "The Doctor has contributed many papers to different journals published by colored men in the last quarter of the century. The New 3