Letter 4200

Henley writes to Sloane about “The dignity of Physic & of Physicians vindicated against the Suggestions of Dr. (?) Middleton” will be advertised very soon. It will be spoken on Wednesday evening at six. He shall be proud of the honour of Sloane’s company at it. John Henley (1692-1756) attended Cambridge where he was outspoken and found it restrictive. He was ordained deacon in 1716 and ambitions took him to London in 1720. in 1725 he founded the Oratory, his own chapel and became the Orator, separating from the Church of England, and subsided by selling subscriptions to his books. Later, he began a Gentleman’s Own University, offering lectures and private tutorials on a range of subjects. (Graham Midgley, ‘Henley, John (1692–1756)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Sept 2010 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/12928, accessed 17 Aug 2015])