ared _Observations_ on his journeys, which
extended over the Low Countries, Germany, Italy, and France, with a
catalogue of plants not native to England. On the death of Willughby, R.
_ed._ his sons, and in 1679 retired to his native village, where he
continued his scientific labours until his death. These included the ed.
of W.'s _History of Birds and Fishes_, a collection of English proverbs,
_Historia Plantarum Generalis_ (1686-1704), and _Synopsis Methodica
Animalium_. He was for long popularly known by his treatise, _The Wisdom
of God manifested in the works of the Creation_ (1691), a precursor of
Paley's _Natural Theology_. R. is the father of English botany, and
appears to have grasped the idea of the natural classification of plants,
afterwards developed by Jussieu and other later naturalists. His greatest
successors, including Cuvier, highly commended his methods and
acquirements.

READ, THOMAS BUCHANAN (1822-1872).--American poet, was a
portrait-painter, and lived much abroad. He wrote a prose romance, _The
Pilgrims of the Great St. Bernard_, and several books of poetry,
including _The New Pastoral_, _The House by the Sea_, _Sylvia_, and _A
Summer Story_. Some of the shorter pieces included in these, _e.g._,
"Sheridan's Ride," "Drifting," and "The Closing Scene," have great merit.

READE, CHARLES (1814-1884).--Novelist, _s._ of a country gentleman of
Oxfordshire, _ed._ at Oxf., and called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn 1843.
He did not, however, practise, but began his literary career with some
dramas, of which the most remarkable were _Masks and Faces_, _Gold_, and
_Drink_. He afterwards rewrote the first of these as a novel, _Peg
Woffington_ (1852), which attained great popularity. _It is never too
late to Mend_ appeared in 1856, his historical novel, _The Cloister and
the Hearth_, generally regarded as his masterpiece (1861), _Hard Cash_
(1863), _Griffith Gaunt_ (1867), _Foul Play_ (1869), _Put Yourself in his
Place_ (1870), and _A Terrible Temptation_ (1871). Critics have differed
very widely as to the merits of R. as a novelist, and have attributed to,
and denied him the same qualities; but it will be generally admitted
that, while very unequal, he was at his best a writer of unusual power
and vividness. Nearly all are agreed as to the great excellence of _The
Cloister and the Hearth_, Mr. Swinburne placing it "among the very
greatest masterpieces of narrative." Many of his novels were written with
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