assistance from Judge Story, was to codify and digest the whole body of criminal law.  This done, the hardly less difficult undertaking followed of carrying the measure through Congress.  In the latter, Mr. Webster, by his skill in debate and familiarity with his subject, and by his influence in the House, was perfectly successful.  That he and Judge Story did their work well in perfecting the bill is shown by the admirable manner in which the Act stood the test of time and experience.

When the new Congress came together in 1825, Mr. Webster at once turned his attention to the improvement of the Judiciary, which he had been obliged to postpone in order to ward off the attacks upon the court.  After much deliberation and thought, aided by Judge Story, and having made some concessions to his committee, he brought in a bill increasing the Supreme Court judges to ten, making ten instead of seven circuits, and providing that six judges should constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.  Although not a party question, the measure excited much opposition, and was more than a month in passing through the House.  Mr. Webster supported it at every stage with great ability, and his two most important speeches, which are in their way models for the treatment of such a subject, are preserved in his works.  The bill was carried by his great strength in debate and by height of forcible argument.  But in the Senate, where it was deprived of the guardianship of its author, it hung along in uncertainty, and was finally lost through the apathy or opposition of those very Western members for whose benefit it had been devised.  Mr. Webster took its ultimate defeat very coolly.  The Eastern States did not require it, and were perfectly contented with the existing arrangements, and he was entirely satisfied with the assurance that the best lawyers and wisest men approved the principles of the bill.  The time and thought which he had expended were not wasted so far as he was personally concerned, for they served to enhance his influence and reputation both as a lawyer and statesman.

This session brought with it also occasions for debate other than those which were offered by measures of purely legislative and practical interest.  The administration of Mr. Adams marks the close of the “era of good feeling,” as it was called, and sowed the germs of those divisions which were soon to result in new and definite party combinations.  Mr. Adams and Mr. Clay represented the conservative and General Jackson and his friends the radical or democratic elements in the now all-embracing Republican party.  It was inevitable that Mr. Webster should sympathize with the former, and it was equally inevitable that in doing so he should become the leader of the administration forces in the House, where “his great and commanding influence,” to quote the words of an opponent, made him a host himself.  The desire of Mr. Adams to send representatives to the Panama Congress, a scheme which lay very near