hts. He had
sat in parliament, and in 1802 had been elected for Middlesex. After a
prolonged litigation, costing enormous sums, the election had been
finally annulled in 1806. He had subscribed L1000 towards Paull's
expenses; but was so disgusted with his own election experiences that
he refused to come forward as a candidate. Place's committee resolved
therefore to elect him and Paull free of expense. Disputes between
Paull and Burdett led to a duel, in which both were wounded. The
committee threw over Paull, and at the election on the dissolution of
parliament in the spring of 1807, Burdett and Cochrane--afterwards
Lord Dundonald--were triumphantly elected, defeating the Whig
candidates, Sheridan and Elliot. The election was the first triumph of
the reformers, and was due to Place more than any one. Burdett
retained his seat for Westminster until 1837, and, in spite of many
quarrels with his party, was a leading representative of the movement,
which henceforward slowly gathered strength. Place, indeed, had
apparently but scanty respect for the candidate whose success he had
secured. Burdett and his like aimed at popularity, while he was
content to be ignored so long as he could by any means carry the
measures which he approved. Place, therefore, acted as a most
efficient wire-puller, but had no ambition to leave his shop to make
speeches on the hustings.

The scandals about the duke of York and the Walcheren expedition gave
a chance to the Radicals and to their leader in the House of Commons.
Events in 1810 led to a popular explosion, of which Burdett was the
hero. John Gale Jones, an old member of the Corresponding Societies,
had put out a placard denouncing the House of Commons for closing its
doors during a debate upon the Walcheren expedition. The House
proceeded against Jones, who was more or less advised by Place in his
proceedings. Burdett took the part of Jones, by a paper published in
Cobbett's _Register_, and was ultimately committed to the Tower in
consequence. The whole of London was for a time in a state of
excitement, and upon the verge of an outbreak. Burdett refused to
submit to the arrest. Mobs collected; soldiers filled the streets and
were pelted. Burdett, when at last he was forced to admit the
officers, appeared in his drawing-room in the act of expounding Magna
Charta to his son. That, it was to be supposed, was his usual
occupation of an afternoon. Meetings were held, and resolutions
passed, i