on the 12th of July, 1862, he had held out to them the hope that "the
Freed people will not be so reluctant to go" to his projected colony in
South America, when their "numbers shall be large enough to be company
and encouragement for one another," so, at a later date--on the 14th of
August following--he appealed to the Colored Free men themselves to help
him found a proposed Negro colony in New Granada, and thus aid in the
solution of this part of the knotty problem, by the disenthrallment of
the new race from its unhappy environments here.

The substance of the President's interesting address, at the White
House, to the delegation of Colored men, for whom he had sent, was thus
reported at the time:

"Having all been seated, the President, after a few preliminary
observations, informed them that a sum of money had been appropriated by
Congress, and placed at his disposition, for the purpose of aiding the
colonization in some country of the people, or a portion of them, of
African descent, thereby making it his duty, as it had for a long time
been his inclination, to favor that cause; and why, he asked, should the
people of your race be colonized, and where?

"Why should they leave this Country? This is perhaps the first question
for proper consideration. You and we are different races. We have
between us a broader difference than exists between almost any other two
races. Whether it is right or wrong I need not discuss; but this
physical difference is a great disadvantage to us both, as I think.
Your race suffers very greatly, many of them by living among us, while
ours suffers from your presence. In a word we suffer on each side. If
this is admitted, it affords a reason, at least, why we should be
separated. You here are Freemen, I suppose?