betting as to
Wilkes's success in his desperate enterprise was actually organized by
a certain number of brokers into stock which was quoted on 'Change.
Burke ascribes the reason for the failure to the open voting. The
electors were obliged, he said, to record their names, and the
consequences of an opposition to great corporate and commercial
connections were too obvious not to be understood.

[Sidenote: 1768--Wilkes as Member for Middlesex]

As soon as Wilkes knew of his defeat in the City, he struck a yet
bolder note for success. He came forward at once as a candidate for
the County of Middlesex in opposition to the established interest of
two gentlemen who had represented it for several years, who were
supported by the whole interest of the Court and who had considerable
fortunes and great connections in it. But Wilkes, too, had powerful
abettors. The Duke of Portland was one of his most prominent
supporters. His old friend Temple {117} supplied the freehold
qualification which was then essential for a Parliamentary candidate.
Horne, the Rector of Brentford, where the election took place, gave all
his great influence and all his gifts to the service of Wilkes with the
same devotion that had formerly animated Churchill. Horne was not
altogether an admirable character, and his enthusiasm for Wilkes had
hitherto awakened no corresponding enthusiasm on Wilkes's part. But
Horne was invaluable at a crisis like the Middlesex election. He had
the eloquence of a sophist; he had the strategy of a tactician; he was
endowed with an unconquerable energy, an indomitable determination. He
was exceedingly popular in his parish; he caught the mood of the
popular party, and he happened to be on the right side. It would be
difficult to exaggerate the importance of the services he rendered to
Wilkes and to the cause of which Wilkes was the figurehead by his work
in the Middlesex election. The zeal of Horne, the friendship of
Temple, the daring of Wilkes carried the day. It was no ordinary
victory. It was an astonishing triumph. As Burke pointed out, the
same causes did not operate upon the freeholders at large which had
prevented the inclinations of the livery of London from taking effect
in Wilkes's favor, and the result of the polling on March 28 was that
Wilkes was returned to Parliament by a prodigious majority. Wilkes
polled 1290 votes. Mr. George Cooke, the Tory candidate, who had been
the representative for ei