through it. His old wounds troubled him, and one day he
laid bare his shoulder, gripped his cane with his free hand, and a
surgeon cut out the ball from Jesse Benton's pistol. He was too ill to
finish his New England tour, and hastened back to Washington.

But his opponents had little reason to rejoice in his illness. The
summer was not spent before he had made up his mind to do the most
daring act of his public life. He had vetoed the Bank's new charter, but
the Bank itself was not destroyed. The public funds were still in its
keeping; its power in the business world was as great as ever. He
believed, moreover, that Biddle was using money freely to fight him, and
would sooner or later get what he wanted from Congress. He prepared,
therefore, to crush the Bank by withdrawing the deposits of public money
and giving them into the keeping of other banks throughout the country.
Blair, in "The Globe," set to work to convince the people that the Bank
was not sound, and that the public funds were unsafe. Kendall was sent
about the country to examine other banks. Congress voted against
removing the deposits, but the old charter authorized the Secretary of
the Treasury to do it, and the Secretary of the Treasury was now William
Duane, of Philadelphia, a son of Jackson's early friend. There had been
some changes in the cabinet after the second inauguration, Livingston
had been appointed minister to France, the Secretary of the Treasury
transferred to the State Department, and Duane called to the Treasury.

But Duane would not fall in with the President's plan. He did not
believe the deposits were in danger, and refused to sign an order for
removal. Jackson argued, then grew angry, and finally dismissed him.
Duane defended his course ably. Lewis also advised against removal.
Benton favored it, but in this he was almost alone among the leading
public men. Jackson, however, was started, and he could not be stopped.
Roger B. Taney, of Maryland, the Attorney-General, was made Secretary
of the Treasury, and on September 26, 1833, three days after Duane's
dismissal, the order was signed and a series of changes began that did
not end until the whole financial system of the country was changed.

When Congress met, it proved to be, everything considered, probably the
ablest legislature ever assembled in America. There were brilliant men
of a new generation in the lower House, and Adams also was there. In the
Senate, the great three were