In the senate, Mr. Clay met the veto in a becoming manner, and denounced its absurd doctrines in the most faithful manner. On this occasion he gave a full _exposé_ of his views respecting it; proving its spirit at variance with our institutions, and expressed himself decidedly in favor of permanently limiting its exercise. The most absurd of its dogmas related to expounding the constitution, which declared that every public officer might interpret it as he pleased. This called forth one of Mr. Clay’s most impetuous bursts of eloquence. ‘I conceive,’ said he, ‘with great deference, that the president has mistaken the purport of the oath to support the constitution of the United States. No one swears to support it as he understands it, but to support it simply as it is in truth. All men are bound to obey the laws――of which the constitution is supreme――but must they obey them as they understand them, or as they are? If the obligation of obedience is limited and controlled by the measure of information――in other words, if the party is bound to obey the constitution only as he understands it――what would be the consequence? There would be general disorder and confusion throughout every branch of administration, from the highest to the lowest offices――_universal nullification_.’ The insinuations and charges of the president led to a rigid examination of the affairs of the bank, which showed its assets to exceed its liabilities, by more than _forty millions of dollars_. So perfectly safe did congress consider the public deposits in its vaults, that the house passed a vote, of one hundred and nine to forty-six, expressive of their belief of their safety. Not the shadow of evidence was adduced, to give the slightest coloring of truth to the assumptions of the president, or that there was any necessity for augmenting the ‘_limited powers_’ (as he termed them) _of the secretary of the treasury over the public money_. But general Jackson had declared its continuance in the bank dangerous, and he seemed determined on acting as though it were in fact the case. It was requisite for him to have some justifying pretext for the arbitrary measure he designed to adopt, in subverting that noble institution; hence, his hints of the unconstitutionality and inexpediency of its existence, and the unsafety of the people’s money in its vaults; but these were now merged in direct attack. He succeeded in withdrawing from them the public deposits――an act that spread panic, embarrassment, and unparalleled distress, through the country, and was the great prolific cause of causes, of all the evils with which it was subsequently visited. This act, to all intents and purposes, was the _president’s_, although it was performed through the instrumentality of Mr. Taney, the secretary of the treasury, who executed the unconstitutional bidding of the president, for decidedly refusing to execute which, two previous secretaries, Messrs. McLane and Duane, he had removed. Indeed, in his