LEAVING the main line at Twyford on the ; Great Western Railway, we proceed by a small local line to Henley, passing through Shiplake, a small station where the j Thames is crossed. This village is situ- ated at the foot of hilly slopes, on one of j which is its picturesque church with an ivy clad tower, overhanging one of the finest bends of the river. Here James Granger, author of the Biographical History of England, died while adminis- tering the Holy Communion in the year 1776, and here too Alfred Tennyson was married.

As the train approaches Henley, glimpses of the noble river are obtained as it winds its silvery way through the beautiful valley, the exquisite scenes being enhanced by the richly wooded slopes, and conspicuous-looking houses which stand out boldly among the trees on the sides of the hills on the right bank of the Thames; and we cannot pass by without alluding to one of them, " Park Place," famous for its site, growth of trees, and the interest attaching to it as the former residence of Frederick, Prince of Wales, father of George III.

It is principally indebted for its many attractions to Marshall Conway, who at the close of the last century became its possessor, and who strove to render the grounds as beautiful as art could make them. Visitors on certain days can land at the elaborate and beautiful boat-house on the bank, which contains several works of art. Here and there on green hillocks and dells mimic ruins have been introduced. In one of these there is a long subterraneous passage or tunnel leading to a miniature Boman amphi- theatre, the work of Marshall Conway, but there is an object of still greater interest in the grounds, namely the Drnidic tomb which stands on the sum- mit of one of the small hills, placed, exactly as it was found, on the top of a high hill near the town of St. Heliers, Jersey, in the year 1785. It was entirely covered with earth, and was discovered by workmen who were employed levelling some ground. General Conway was then governor of Jersey, and he at once gave instructions for its preservation. On his leaving the island it was presented to him, and removed to his residence at Park Place. It consists of forty-five stones of granite and is 66 feet in circum- ference. These tombs, several of which have been found in the Island of Jersey, were used for the interment of the abori- ginal chieftains, and additional chambers were added as the original ones became filled with the remains of the great de- parted.

Continuing our journey we arrive in sight of Henley Bridge, a handsome stone structure. of five arches, built in 1786, and adorned with two sculptured masks of the " Thames " and the " Isis " from the chisel of the Hon. Mrs. Darner, daughter of General Conway, to whom we have alluded. A female head round which water plants are entwined repre- sents the Isis on one side of the bridge, and an ancient head, crowned with bull- rushes, and little fishes peeping out through the beard, the Thames, on the other side.

Henley, a municipal borough and market town in the county of Oxford, with 4,600 inhabitants, is situated at the foot of the Chiltem Hills on the left bank of the Thames, 35 miles from London. It is traditionally the oldest place in the county, as its name implies (Hen, " old," and Lye "place"), and stands on one of the most beautiful spots in the whole course of the Thames, the broad and full river being here flanked by hills covered with hanging woods. It possesses a fine old church with a square perpendicular tower, said to have been built by Cardinal Wolsey; and in the churchyard is buried Richard Jennings, master builder of St. Paul's Cathedral.

The fine reaches of the Thames at Henley have long been noted as the course for the principal boat-races in England, which give every variety of racing boat an opportunity to show its own capabilities, and the crews their power of endurance. The starting-point is at Fawley Court, a summer-house situated on a pretty island close to the village of Bemenham. The scenes so familiar at Oxford are repeated at Henley on a more important scale. At Oxford, the number of the boats, and the narrow- ness of the stream, make it impossible for the competing crews to be ranged side by side. They consequently start, and pull in line ahead, the object of each crew being to touch with their own boat the stern of the boat before them in the line.

Such a bump leads to a change of place in these two boats, and thus the best boat's crew bump their way to the head of the river. The broad river at Henley, however, allows the rival boats to be alongside of each other, and then with even bows they start upon a course which not unfrequently brings them in, still side by side, the bow of the winner perhaps being only 3 or 4 feet in advance.

Henley is also noted for being the only town in the county of Oxford in which a branch of the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE- BOAT INSTITUTION exists. In the year 1864 Mr. LUCEY, a gentleman who has been long resident at Henley, and is well known in the locality, undertook, at the request of the London Committee of the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION to canvass the neighbourhood on behalf of that Society, and in the same year a lecture was delivered in Henley by Mr.

LEWIS, the late secretary. These efforts to establish a branch attracted notice in Reading, where a meeting was held which led to a fund being started called the Royal Berkshire Life-boat Fund, to pro- Tide a Life-boat of that name, which was eventually placed at Aberdovey on the Welsh coast, and since then a very im- portant branch has been formed in that town, the subscriptions now remitted to London amounting to above 150Z.

annually. These results may be fairly attributed to the initial step taken at Henley two years before. The same de- gree of success did not, however, reward the exertions of Mr. Lucey in Henley.

The total subscriptions and donations collected since the formation of the branch in 1864 amount only to a little more than 4:001.; one half of the donations having been given by the Misses Ovey, three sisters, the last survivor of whom left in 1878 to the Institution a bequest of 500?. free of duty. In the year 1882 another resident, Mrs. Noble, whose husband has always been a regular and liberal supporter of the cause, presented a magnificent Life-boat to the Institution, costing 800Z., and it was publicly launched in the river in July of the same year, in the presence of a large and enthusiastic concourse of people. An accident unfortunately occurred during the presentation; the grand stand used at the Royal Regatta the week before was in course of demolition; to avoid the rain, which was coming down in torrents, between two and three hundred persons persisted in going into the structure not- withstanding the warning given them: the consequence was the flooring gave way, and the people, with the mass of timber beneath them, were thrown to the ground from a height of 10 feet. Many persons were injured in various ways by the falling timber, but fortunately no one was seriously hurt. Such have been the results of the Henley branch up to the present time, and the Institution owes a large debt of gratitude to Mr. Lucey and to those gentlemen who have acted with him, for their long-continued zeal and co- operation under somewhat discouraging circumstances, relieved, however, by the two above-mentioned instances of libera- lity.

A public meeting was convened in June of this year by Mr. Lucey to endea- vour to increase if possible local interest in the Life-boat work in operation on the sea coast, and to strengthen his position as honorary secretary by the appoint- ment of a Local Committee. The Mayor was kind enough to take the chair, and after a few introductory remarks from him, Mr. Lucey read a report giving a resume of the work of the branch during the twenty-one years of its existence, and also aptly pointing out the sympathy that ought to exist between the head- quarters of the rowing world and the Life-boat. Much surprise was expressed by more than one speaker that Henley was the only town in the whole county where a branch existed. Oxford Univer- sity certainly raised a fund for a Life- boat which was named the Ms and placed on the coast of Cornwall, but a branch has never been formed there, though one might with advantage be established; the only other towns of any importance besides Henley are Woodstock and Ban- bury, but they are hardly of a size sufficient to form successful branches, and, as we have before pointed out, the Institu- tion is mainly indebted to Mr. Lucey for the establishment of a branch at Henley.

The Mayor mentioned that the regatta was not unrepresented in connection with the parent society, since in 1880 a Life- boat was purchased and named the " Alfred Trower," in honour of a gentle- man once well known at the Henley Regatta. This boat is now stationed at Tramore, on the south coast of Ireland.

The meeting resulted in the formation of an influential committee, including the Right Hon. W. H. Smith, M.P., as presi- dent, and now that a fresh start has been made by the Henley branch, it is earnestly hoped that in future the claims of the Life-boat Institution may be more fully recognized and better supported in this locality..