Horace Twiss
Horace Twiss was born in Bath in 1787. He became a student at the Inner Temple in 1806 and was called to the bar on 28th June 1811. Twiss was a staunch Tory and in 1820 was selected as Lord Clarendon's candidate for Wooton Basset in Wiltshire. He continued to pursue his legal career and in 1827 became a king's counsel.
Twiss was considered to be one of the best orators in the House of Commons. However, he was criticised for his unconventional speeches in debates. Lord Campbell observed that Twiss "though inexhaustibly fluent, his manner certainly was very flippant, factitious, and unbusinesslike". In 1825 Lord Liverpool appointed Twiss as counsel to the admiralty and in the government of the Duke of Wellington was under-secretary of war.
Twiss was critical of Robert Peel: "Peel was the best man of business and the best debater in England - but always thinking of his reputation and his outward character - never decided and courageous - thinking more of getting well through a business into which he had been led by circumstances, than bold and decided in his pursuit and assertion of great principles and worthy objects."
Gully and Joseph Pease (the first Quaker elected to Parliament) arriving
in March 1833. An angry Horace Twiss can be seen third from the right.
Twiss was one of the leading opponents of Earl Grey's proposals for parliamentary reform. One of the supporters of the reform, Thomas Macaulay, pointed out after winning a vote on the subject on 30th March 1831: "The tellers scarcely got through the crowd. But you might have heard a pin drop as Duncannon read the numbers. Then again the shouts broke out - and many of us shed tears - I could scarcely refrain. And the jaw of Peel fell; and the face of Twiss was as the face of a damned soul. We shook hands and clapped each other on the back, and went out laughing, crying, and huzzaing into the lobby."
As a result of the 1832 Reform Act Wooton Basset lost its right to be represented in the House of Commons. Twiss was out of Parliament until he won the seat of Bridport for the Tories in 1835. In 1837 he switched to Nottingham but was badly beaten. He was also defeated at Bury St Edmunds in 1841.
After his failure to return to the House of Commons, Twiss concentrated on journalism. He wrote accounts of parliamentary debates and editorials for The Times. His daughter, Fanny Twiss, married John Thaddeus Delane, the editor of The Times. Horace Twiss continued to be active in politics and died while making a speech at Radley's Hotel, Blackfriars, on 4th May, 1849.
Primary Sources
(1) Thomas Macaulay, letter to Thomas Flower Ellis on the vote in the House of Commons on the Reform Act (30th March, 1831)
Such a scene as the division of last Tuesday I never saw, and never expect to see again. If I should live fifty years the impression of it will be as fresh and sharp in my mind as if it had just taken place. It was like seeing Caesar stabbed in the Senate House, or seeing Oliver taking the mace from the table, a sight to be seen only once and never to be forgotten. The crowd overflowed the House in every part. When the doors were locked we had six hundred and eight members present, more than fifty five than were ever in a division before.
When Charles Wood who stood near the door jumped up on a bench and cried out. "They are only three hundred and one." We set up a shout that you might have heard to Charing Cross - waving our hats - stamping against the floor and clapping our hands. The tellers scarcely got through the crowd. But you might have heard a pin drop as Duncannon read the numbers. Then again the shouts broke out - and many of us shed tears - I could scarcely refrain. And the jaw of Peel fell; and the face of Twiss was as the face of a damned soul. We shook hands and clapped each other on the back, and went out laughing, crying, and huzzaing into the lobby.
(2) Horace Twiss told E. J. Littleton his opinion on Robert Peel (20th November, 1831)
Peel was the best man of business and the best debater in England - but always thinking of his reputation and his outward character - never decided and courageous - thinking more of getting well through a business into which he had been led by circumstances, than bold and decided in his pursuit and assertion of great principles and worthy objects.