Page:Life of Henry Clay (Schurz; v. 1).djvu/392

380 Congress, who had voted for the renewal of the bank charter, took part in the anti-bank meetings, apologized for what they had done, and then lustily joined in the outcry against the “monster.” Having once changed their position on a question they had considered highly important, simply because Jackson would have it so, they found no further difficulty in surrendering their will completely to him. The effect of the veto had therefore been, not to scatter Jackson's following, but actually to consolidate his party, giving it more cohesion and discipline than it had ever had before, and strengthening it numerically too, for, although there were a few defections, the war against the bank drew crowds of recruits to its ranks.

The cholera appeared that summer in the United States, but it checked only for a moment the animation of the campaign. The Clay party remained hopeful to the end. In May a convention of “young men” had met at Washington, representing almost every State, to ratify Clay's nomination for the presidency. William Pitt Fessenden of Maine was one of its vice-presidents, and there were not a few among its members who became distinguished men in later days. The Democrats dubbed the meeting “Clay's infant school,” but it encouraged him in the belief that he had the youth of the country on his side. The National Republicans, having great strength among the merchants, manufacturers, and professional men, and commanding a large proportion of the