(Memoirs, i. 173). During a short visit to London in the spring of 1802 he finally determined to come to the English bar, and was admitted a student of Lincoln's Inn on 26 April of that year. Horner, Jeffrey, and Sydney Smith were the original founders of the ‘Edinburgh Review.’ The first number appeared in November 1802, with four articles by Horner. In March 1803 Horner left Edinburgh, and in the following July established himself in Garden Court, Temple. On 16 May 1804 he made his first appearance at the bar of the House of Lords; but owing to nervousness ‘scarcely could finish a sentence, and could find no variety of language to express distinct ideas … my tongue in truth clove to the roof of my mouth’ (ib. i. 251). In the following month, at the request of the chairman, Horner consented to undertake an exposition of the views of the East India Company with respect to the extension of their territory, and an examination of the governor-general's conduct in the Mahratta war. No trace, however, of this ‘exposition’ has been found either among Horner's papers or among the archives of the India House (ib. p. 252 n.). In February 1806 he was appointed by Lord Minto to the seat vacated by Mr. Ryder at the board of commissioners entrusted with the duty of adjusting the claims of the creditors of the nabob of Arcot. Through the influence of Lord Henry Petty and Lord Kinnaird, Horner was returned for the borough of St. Ives at the general election in November 1806, in the whig interest. Writing to his friend J. A. Murray, Horner gives an account of his canvass, and relates how he ‘shook every individual voter by the hand, stinking with brine and pilchard juice, repeated the same smiles and cajoleries to every one of them, and kissed some women that were very pretty’ (ib. i. 381). He made his maiden speech in the House of Commons on 27 Jan. 1807 (Parl. Debates, viii. 559), but did not take any part in the more important debates of that short-lived parliament.
Horner was called to the English bar on 13 June 1807, and chose the western circuit. As he had not obtained a seat at the general election in the previous May, he was returned, through the influence of Lord Carrington, for the borough of Wendover at a by-election in the following July. Towards the close of 1808 Horner removed from Garden Court to 7 New Square, Lincoln's Inn. Hitherto he had refrained from taking part in any great debate in the house, and Jeffrey, writing to him on 2 April 1809, asked: ‘Why do you not make speeches, if you will not write reviews? … trample this fastidiousness under your feet; make yourself known for what you are, and at thirty-one, and in the crisis of Europe, do not still think of training yourself for futurity’ (Memoirs, i. 455–6). Finding his duties on the Arcot commission incompatible with his profession, Horner retired during the summer of this year. On 1 Feb. 1810 he moved for eight different returns respecting bullion and the issue of bank-notes (Parl. Debates, xv. 269–272), and on the 19th a committee was appointed, upon his motion, ‘to inquire into the cause of the high price of gold bullion, and to take into consideration the state of the circulating medium and of the exchange between Great Britain and foreign parts’ (Journals of the House of Commons, lxv. 105). Horner was chosen chairman of the committee, which consisted of twenty-two members, and sat for thirty-one days. Their report, styled by Horner ‘a motley composition by Huskisson, Thornton, and myself’ (Memoirs, ii. 47), recommending the resumption of cash payments at the end of two years, on the ground that the mutual convertibility of notes and gold was an essential foundation of sound business, was presented to the house on 8 June (Parl. Papers, 1810; Reports from Committees, iii. 1–232). On 20 Dec., in a speech which made a great impression on the house, Horner supported Ponsonby in urging the adoption of an address, in opposition to the ministerial proposal that the regent should be appointed by bill (Parl. Debates, xviii. 299–311). In January 1811 Lord Grenville, anticipating that the formation of a new ministry would be entrusted to him, offered Horner the post of financial secretary of the treasury. This offer Horner declined, on the ground that he had resolved on entering parliament not to take any political office until he was rich enough to live at ease out of office. On 6 May the bullion report was considered in a committee of the whole house. Horner moved a series of sixteen resolutions, embodying the opinion of the select committee, in a speech occupying three hours in delivery (ib. xix. 799–832). His resolutions, however, were defeated by the anti-bullionists, and a few days afterwards Vansittart's counter-resolutions were carried. Parliament was dissolved in September 1812, and as Lord Carrington had to provide for a nephew who had come of age since the last election, as well as for his son-in-law, Horner was once more without a seat. The Marquis of Buckingham, however, came to his assistance, and in April 1813 Horner was returned for the borough of St. Mawes. In the following June Horner deprecated any measure to prevent the importation of corn from foreign countries by a system of
