«80 
JOHN HEN LEV. 
John Henley. 
This singular character is better known by the appellation of 
Orator Henley. He has furnished the world with memorials of him- 
self, in a book entitled Oratory Transactions, which are in some 
respects worth preserving. He w'as born at Melton Mowbray, 
Leicestershire, Aug. 3, 1692. His father, the Eev. Simon Henley, 
and his grandfather by his mother’s side, John Dowel, M.A. were 
both vicars of that parish. His grandfather by his father’s side, 
John Henley, M.A. w'as likewise a clergyman, rector of Salmonby and 
Thetford in Lincolnshire. He was educated among the dissenters, 
and conformed at the Restoration. 
Orator Henley was brought up first in the free-school of Melton, 
under Mr. Daffy, a diligent and expert grammarian. From this 
school he was removed to that of Okeham in Rutland, under Mr. 
Wright, eminent for his knowledge of the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew 
languages. About 1709, he entered of St, John’s college, Cambridge, 
where, on his examination by Dr. Gower, then master. Dr. Lambert, 
Dr. Edmundson, and others, he was, he tells us, particularly approved. 
While an undergraduate at St. John’s, he wrote a letter to the Spec- 
tator, dated from that college, Feb. 3, 1712, signed Peter de Quir, 
abounding with quaintness and local wit. He began here to be very 
soon uneasy ; he was more inclined to dispute than to assent to any 
points of doctrine, and already fancied himself able to reform the 
whole system of acadenfical education. 
After he had commenced bachelor of arts, he was desired, by the 
trustees in the school in Melton, to assist in, and then to take the 
direction of, that school ; which he increased, and raised from a de- 
clining to a ffourishing condition. He established here, he tells us, 
a practice of improving elocution, by the public speaking of passages 
in the classics, morning and afternoon, as well as orations, &c. Here 
he was invited, by a letter from the Rev. Dr. Newcome, to be candi- 
date for a fellowship in St. John’s ; but as he had long been absent, 
and therefore lessened his personal interest, he declined appearing 
for it. Here likewise he began his Universal Grammar, and furnished 
ten languages, with dissertations prefixed, as the most ready intro- 
duction to any tongue whatever. 
In the beginning of this interval he wrote a poem on Esther, which 
was approved by the town, and w^ell received, as indeed it amply de- 
served. It is preceded by a learned preface, in which he discovers 
an intimate knowledge of Oriental studies, and some learned etymo- 
logies from the Persic, Hebrew, and Greek, concerning the name 
and person of Ahasuerus, whom he makes to be Xerxes. On the oc- 
casion of his grammars. Dr. Hutchinson wrote him a complimentary 
letter. He was ordained a deacon by Dr. Wake, then bishop of Lin- 
coln ; and after having taken his degree of M.A. was admitted to 
priest’s orders by Dr. Gibson, his successor in that see. He did not 
long consent to rest in the country, but, impatient to obtain wealth 
and fame in London, resigned his offices of master and curate, and 
entered upon his new career. 
in town, he produced several publications, as, a Translation of 
