l_." However, he offered the service of his
pen to two great men, of opinions and interests directly
opposite: but being rejected by both of them, he set up a
new project, and styled himself, "_The restorer of ancient
eloquence._" Henley's pulpit, in which he preached, "was
covered with velvet, and adorned with gold." It is to this
that Pope alludes, in the first couplet of his second book
of the Dunciad:

High on a gorgeous seat, that far outshone
HENLEY'S _gilt tub_----

"He had also an altar, and placed over it this extraordinary
inscription, '_The primitive Eucharist._'" We are told by
his friend Welsted (narrative in Oratory Transact. No. 1)
that "he had the assurance to form a plan, which no mortal
_ever thought of_; he had success against all opposition;
challenged his adversaries to fair disputations, and _none
would dispute with him_: he wrote, read, and studied, twelve
hours a day; composed three dissertations a week on all
subjects; undertook to teach in _one year_ what schools and
universities teach in _five_: was not terrified by menaces,
insults, or satires; but still proceeded, matured his bold
scheme, and put the church and _all that in danger_!" See
note to Dunciad, book iii., v. 199. Pope has described this
extraordinary character with singular felicity of
expression:

But, where each science lifts its modern type,
Hist'ry her Pot, Divinity her Pipe,
While proud philosophy repines to shew,
Dishonest sight! his breeches rent below;
Imbrown'd with native bronze, lo! Henley stands,
Tuning his voice and balancing his hands.
How fluent nonsense trickles from his tongue!
How sweet the periods, neither said nor sung!
Still break the benches, Henley! with thy strain,
While SHERLOCK, HARE, and GIBSON, preach in vain.
Oh great restorer of the good old stage,
Preacher at once, and zany of thy age,
Oh worthy thou, of Egypt's wise abodes,
A decent priest, where monkeys were the gods!
But fate with butchers plac'd thy priestly stall,
Meek modern faith to murder, hack, and mawl;
And bade thee live, to crown Britannia's praise,
In TOLAND'S, TINDAL'S, and in WOOLSTON'S days.

_Dunciad_, b. iii