part with his beloved home. Relief came to him
suddenly, and in an unexpected form. When of-
fering a payment to the bank at Lexington, the
president of the institution informed him that
sums of money had arrived from different parts
of the country to pay off Henry Clay's debts,
and that all the notes and the mortgage were
cancelled. Clay was deeply moved. "Who did
this?" he asked the banker. All the answer he
received was that the givers were unknown, but
they were presumably "not his enemies." Clay
doubted whether he should accept the gift, and
consulted some of his friends. They reminded him
of the many persons of historic renown who had
not refused tokens of admiration and gratitude
from their countrymen; and added that, as he
could not discover the unknown givers, he could
not return the gift; and, as the gift appeared in
the shape of a discharged obligation, he could not
force the renewal of the debt. At last he con-
sented to accept, and thus was Ashland saved to
him.

In January, 1845, Clay attended a meeting of
the American Colonization Society at Washington,
which was held in the hall of the House of Repro-
sentatives. "Last night Mr. Clay made a show
on the colonization question, and such a show I
never saw," wrote Alexander H. Stephens to his
brother. "Men came from Baltimore, Philadel-
phia, and New York, to say nothing of Alexandria
and this city. The house and galleries were

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