a town of the hundred of Benfield, in the county of Oxford, divided from Buckinghamshire by the river Thames, over which there is an elegant bridge. It is thirty-five miles from London, and, though an ancient, is a well-built town, with a good market, which is held on Thursday. It is surrounded with the seats of nobility and gentry. The church is large and the tower lofty, and both are said to have been erected by Cardinal Wolsey. It is a borough, governed by a mayor and aldermen, and in ancient times returned two members to parliament. The population amounted in 1801 to 2948, in 1811 to 3117, in 1821 to 3509, and in 1831 to 3618. Henley, John, better known by the appellation of Orator Henley, a very singular character, was born at Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, in 1691. His father, the reverend Simon Henley, and his grandfather by his mother's side, John Dowel, were both vicars of the same parish. Having passed through his exercises at Cambridge, and his examination for the degree of bachelor, with the particular approbation of Mr Field, Mr Smales, and the master of the college, he returned to his native place, upon which he was desired by the trustees of the school in Melton, first to assist in, and then to take the direction of that school, which he raised from a declining to a flourishing condition. In this seminary he established a practice of improving education by the recitation of passages in the classics, morning and afternoon. Whilst at Melton, he was invited by a letter from the reverend Mr Newcombe to become a candidate for a fellowship in St John's; but as he had long been absent, and therefore lessened his personal interest, he declined appearing as a competitor. Here likewise he began his Universal Grammar, and finished ten languages, with dissertations prefixed, as the most ready introduction to any tongue whatsoever. In the beginning of this interval he wrote his poem on Esther, which was well received. He was ordained a deacon by Dr Wake, then Bishop of Lincoln; and after having taken his degree in arts, was admitted to priest's orders by Dr Gibson, his successor in that see. Having early formed a resolution to improve himself with all the advantages of books and conversation, he determined on the first opportunity to proceed to London. But he laid the basis of future proficiency in assisting at the curacy of his native town, where he preached many occasional sermons, particularly one at the assizes at Leicester; he then gave a voluntary warning for the choice of a new master and curate, and went to town recommended by above thirty letters from the most considerable men in the country, both of the clergy and laity, but against the inclination of his neighbours and his school, which was now, as from his first entrance upon it, still advancing. In town he published a translation of Pliny's Epistles, of several works of the Abbé Vertot, and of Montfaucon's Italian Travels in folio. His most generous patron was the Earl of Macclesfield, who gave him a benefice in the country, the value of which to a resident would have been above £80 a year; he had likewise a lecture in the city, and preached more charity sermons about town, was more numerously followed, and raised more money for the poor children, than any other preacher, however dignified or distinguished.

Henley preached on Sundays upon theological matters, and on Wednesdays upon all other sciences. He used every Saturday to print an advertisement in the Daily Advertiser, containing an account of the subjects he intended to discourse on the ensuing evening at his Oratory, near Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, with a sort of motto before it, which was generally a sneer at some public transaction of the preceding week. His audience was generally composed of the lowest ranks; and it is well known that he collected a great number of shoemakers, by announcing that he could teach them a speedy mode of operation in their business, which proved to be only the making of shoes by cutting off the tops of ready-made boots. He died in October 1756.