of
business men appeared almost daily at the White House, asking Jackson to
restore the deposits and surrender to the great corporation, thus
acknowledging the subordination of the country to one of its interests.

Under these circumstances and awaiting confidently the effect of the
Bank's drastic pressure upon public opinion, Clay began in January,
1834, the work of compelling the President to restore the deposits. For
weeks and even months the Senate was the scene of the most extraordinary
denunciations, and the press of the country was burdened with the
attacks and counter-attacks of the parties to this fierce and
unrelenting struggle. In the East business failures, the closing of the
doors of manufacturing establishments, and the discharge of small armies
of employees furnished all the proof necessary that the distress was
real. From all sections of the country cries of distress, memorials, and
petitions came up to Washington. Biddle and his friends had no thought
of relenting, but continued the curtailment of the financial business of
the country far beyond what might have seemed necessary on account of
the removal of deposits; they were certain that only a few months more
of pressure and of increased suffering on the part of the people would
compel Jackson to yield or Congress to grant the desired charter over
the head of the President.

But the Congress which was elected in 1832 and which sat from December,
1833, to March, 1835, was not so pliable as that which arranged the
peace with South Carolina. Still, the Senate sustained the Bank by a
decided majority, and in March it formally censured Jackson for his
removal of the deposits. In this Clay was conspicuous, and Webster and
Calhoun were his sympathetic allies. On the other hand, Benton, Silas
Wright, of New York, and John Forsyth, of Georgia, made a most spirited
defense of Jackson and of the cause of the people, as they insisted. In
the House the situation was reversed, and all Biddle's energy and
resolute lobbying failed to secure a favorable vote. It became clear
early in the spring that the President could not be moved, and that
impeachment, which had been the hope and talk of many, would be
impossible. When the weight of public opinion inclined visibly to the
side of Jackson at the end of spring, Clay, who had for some time
doubted the loyalty of Biddle, and who was especially anxious to regain
his former popularity in the West, refused to continue the