BEADEP, 446 BEADING devoted himself to fiction writing. His first works to attract attention were "Peg Woflfington" and "Christie John- stone." Among his subsequent works are: "The Course of True Love"; "White Lies"; "The Cloister and the Hearth"; "Hard Cash"; "Griffith Gaunt"; "Put Yourself in His Place"; "A Terrible Temptation"; "Never Too Late to Mend"; "Foul Play," etc.; and the plays "Gold Masks and Faces" (with Tom Taylor) ; "A Scuttled Ship" (with Bouci- cault). His last novel was "A Perilous Secret." He died in London, England, April 11, 1884. READER, specifically, one whose of- fice it is to read prayers, lessons, lec- tures, and the like to others; as (a) in the Roman Catholic Church, one of the five inferior orders of the priesthood; (b) in the English Church, a deacon ap- pointed to perform divine service in churches and chapels, of which no one has the cure, (c) A kind of lecturer or professor in universities, etc. (d) In printing offices, a proof-reader is a per- son who reads and corrects proofs. READING, a parliamentary and mu- nicipal borough of England; capital of the county of Berks; on the Kennet, near its confluence with the Thames; 36 miles W. of London. The town is well built and laid out, and there are an assize hall, the Royal Berkshire hospital, a town hall of recent erection in the Renaissance style, etc. The industrial establishments include a large and cele- brated biscuit factory, iron foundries, breweries, corn mills, etc., and there is a considerable agricultural trade. There are interesting remains of a magnificent abbey founded by Henry I., who was buried within its precincts in 1135. Pop. (1917) 82,475. READING, a city of Massachusetts, in Middlesex co. It is on the Boston and Maine railroad. It is chiefly a resi- dential town and has manufactures of organ pipes, carriages, boots and shoes, rubber, games, etc. It has a public library. Pop. (1910) 5,818; (1920) 7,439. READING, a city and county-seat of Berks co.. Pa.; on the Schuylkill river, the Schuylkill canal, and the Pennsyl- vania, and the Philadelphia and Reading railroads; 54 miles E. of Harrisburg; 58 miles N. W. of Philadelphia. The city is regularly laid out on a site gradu- ally rising to picturesque hills, which not only afford fine scenic views, but give a copious supply of pure water. Here are waterworks owned by the city and cost- ing $1,500,000, gas and electric lights, inclined gravity and electric railroads, several National and State banks, and Mineral Springs and Penn's Common parks. The charitable institutions in- clude the Reading, St. Joseph's, and the Homeopathic Medical and Surgical Hos- pitals, several dispensaries, and a Home for Orphans. The city contains over 60 churches, about 50 school buildings, and public school property valued at over $1,000,000. There are upward of 500 manufacturing establishments. Reading is the seat of the Philadelphia and Read- ing railroad car and machine shops. The chief manufactures are foundry and machine shop products, iron and steel, stoves, woolen hats, brick and tile, cigars and cigarettes, and planing mill products. Reading was settled in 1748, became a borough in 1783, and a city in 1847. Pop. (1910) 96,071; (1920) 107,784. READING, EARL OF, RUFUS DANIEL ISAACS, Lord Chief Justice of England. Born in London, 1860, the son of a Jewish fruit dealer, he was edu- EARL OF READING Gated in various universities of London, Brussels, and Hanover. After several years of traveling, he finally studied law. Such was his success in the legal pro- fession that in 1898 he became queen's counsel. In 1904 he was elected as a Liberal to the House of Commons. In 1910 he seized as solicitor-general and attorney-general. Although accused of having speculated in stock to the preju- dice of his official duties, he was made
