1876.] ^'^ [Strong. 



wrought that it cannot fade, and rendered doubly at- 

 tractive by the inimitable style in which it was executed. 

 About the year 1830, after severer exertions than 

 were usual, Mr. Binney's health began to be impaired, 

 and he desired to withdraw gradually from the courts, 

 and throw off, in considerable measure, the load of 

 business with which he was oppressed. It was this, in 

 part, which made him willing to accept a nomination 

 for Conp-ress. There were doubtless other reasons 

 that influenced him. Principal among these was the 

 hostility of President Jackson to the Bank of the United 

 States. His veto of the bill for its recharter in 1832, 

 aroused the deepest feeling of its friends, who then 

 constituted most of the business community of this 

 city. Mr. Binney was one of the number, and his 

 transcendent ability, together with his well-known 

 knowledge of the condition and operations of the 

 bank, pointed him out as the best man to defend the 

 institution in Congress. All eyes turned to him, and 

 his services were at once demanded. Believing as he 

 did in the great usefulness of the bank, and in its 

 necessity for the public welfare, he did not feel at 

 liberty to decline the call. He was elected, and he took 

 his seat as a member of the twenty-third Congress on 

 the 2d of December, 1832. That Congress was filled 

 with distinguished men, many of them, longed trained 

 in the public service. Mr. Binney took into it a great 

 reputation, such as few lawyers ever brought into Con- 

 gressional life. Much was expected from him, and all 



