R E A 



R E A 



e^ton and rt-n^'wn nre equal and contrary ; or thai tlic mu- 

 tual adlioiis of two bodies, Itrikinj^ one aj>'aiiill aiiollRT, are 

 exattly equal, but in contrary ilircdtions ; or, in other 

 words, that by the aftion and rc-attiou of bodies one on 

 another, there are produced equal chancres in each : and 

 thofe changes are imprefled towards direftly contrary parts 

 or ways. See Laws of Natuhk. 



Some of the Ichool-philofophers deny any fuch thing as 

 re-aftion, properly fo called, at all ; urgiue;, that aftion 

 arifes only from the ratio of the greater ineciuality ; that is, 

 we are only to account for aftion the excels of adlion, or 

 what the agent docs more than is returned by the patient. 

 But the equality between a£lion and re-a£lion fcts afide this 

 exception. 



READ, in Geography, a river of England, in the county 

 of Northumberland, whicli runs into the Tyiie, lo miles N. 

 ot Hexham. 



Read Head, a cape on tlie E. coall of Scotland. N. lat. 

 56° 35'. W. long. 2°2S'. 



READFIELD, a poll-town of America, in Kennebec 

 county, and dillrift of Maine, bounded on the E. by Hal- 

 lowell, and feparated from Sterling on the W. by the eadern 

 branch of the Androfeoggiii river ; S miles W. of Hal- 

 lowell, and 190 N.E. of Boiloii. It contains 1396 in- 

 habitants. 



READING, .Toiix, in Biography, organift, firft at 

 Lincoln, then at Hackney, and finally of St. Dunltan's 

 church in Fleet-ftreet, I^ondon. He was a feholar of Dr. 

 Blow, and Stanley's firil mailer. He publilhed Hymns 

 early in life, for pfalmodiils in parochial congregations ; 

 and, laftly, « work engraved on copper, which he called 

 " A Book of my Anthems, with a Thorough-bafe, for 

 the Organ or Harplichord." He died in 1766, far ad- 

 vanced in years. 



Reading, in Geography, a borough and market -town in 

 the hundred of Reading, and county of Berks, England, is 

 38 miles W. by S. from the metropolis. It is a town of 

 confiderable extent and importance, and contains, according 

 to the parliamentary veturns of 181 1, 2032 houfes, and 

 10,788 inhabitants. 



H'ljlorkal Events. — Reading is unqueftionably of very 

 great antiquity ; but whether it is indebted for its origin to 

 the Britons, the Romans, or the Saxons, is unknown. 

 Conjeftures, however, have been hazarded on the fubjeft by 

 various writers. Camden thinks its foundation ought to be 

 referred to the Britons ; Leland calls it the Pontes of An- 

 toninus ; and Dr. Beeke, the learned profcllor of modern 

 hillory at Oxford, confiders it the Calleva of Richard of Ci- 

 renceller. But the circumftances which are alleged in favour 

 of thefe opinions, by their refpeftive authors, are far from 

 being fatisfaftory. This place is firft mentioned in hillory, 

 under its prefent appellation, in the year 871 ; at which time 

 it is defcribed by AfTer as being a fortified town, belonging 

 to the Saxon kings, but then occupied by the Danifli in- 

 vaders, who had retreated hither after their defeat at Engle- 

 field. The vidlorious Saxons immediately inverted the 

 town ; but their enemies, having received reinforcements, 

 attacked the befiegers with fuch impetuofity, that, after an 

 obilinate contell, they deemed it prudent to retire to Afh- 

 down. Hither they were followed by the Danilb forces, 

 which were again overthrown, and driven back to Reading. 

 Here the latter remained unmolefted till the following year. 



hollility and depredation, however, this town feems to have 

 cfcaped any vcr) ferious dilallcr ; but in 1006 it was re- 

 duced to alhcs by Swcyn, king of Denmark, along witli 

 its famous nunnery, laid to have been founded by Elfrida, 

 widow of king Edgar, as an atonement for the murder of 

 Edward the Martyr. Reading foon recovered from this 

 difarter, and in the courfe of a century afterwards became 

 a ])lace of confiderable importance. In i 121 king Henry I. 

 laid the foundation of its magnificent abbey, in which his 

 remains were fubfequently interred, according to his own 

 defire. Stephen, who ufurped the throne after Henry's 

 death, built a caftle here, which was furrendered to his an- 

 tagonill Henry Fit/-Emprefs, who no fooner obtained the 

 crown, than he ordered it to be demolifhed ; fo that even 

 the fcite of it is now uncertain. That monarch, however, 

 Qtherwile evinced much jjartiality for Reading. Here he 

 pafled much of his time, and convened a parliament, as alfo 

 an eccleliallical convocation, in whicli Baldwin was elefted 

 archbilhop of Canterbury. The abbey churcii was finilhcd 

 in this reign, and dedicated in prefciice of the king. In 

 1185 he came hith-.r from Ixindon, to receive Heraclius, 

 patriarch of Jerufalem, who prefented liim with the keys 

 of the holy fepulchre, and the royal banners of Jerufalem, 

 which Henry returned. In the reign of his fucceffor, 

 Rich.ard I., a convention for the trial of Longchamp, chan- 

 cellor and bilhop of Ely, who had been appointed regent 

 of the kingdom during the king's abfence, was held here. 

 King John alfo held a convention in this town, in 1206; 

 and in 1212 a council was convened here by the pope's le- 

 gate, for the purpofe of effedling a reconciliation between 

 that infatuated prince and the exiled bilhops. In 12 13 the 

 king met the legate and barons at the abbey, and held a 

 parliament. King Henry III. fpent his Chriftmas at 

 Reading in 1226; and twice during his reign fummoned 

 the eftates of the realm hither, for the tranfaftion of na- 

 tional bufinefs. He was the firft monarch who granted a 

 charter of incorporation to the town. In 1346, Ed- 

 ward III. held a great tournament here; and in 1359, the 

 marriage of his fon, John of Gaunt, with Blanche, daughter 

 oi Henry, duke of Jjancaller, was folemnized in the abbey- 

 church. In 1384, Richard II. and his court, together 

 with the mayor and aldermen of London, being aflembled 

 at Reading, John Northampton, the preceding mayor of 

 that city, was convicled before them of feditious pradtices, 

 and fentenced to perpetual imprifonment. In 1389 a great 

 council was held at Reading, at which the king and his 

 barons were reconciled by John of Gaunt. Parliaments 

 were held here alfo in 1440 and 1451 j in the former of 

 which the order of nobles called vifcounts was firil efta- 

 bliflied ; and in the year following, the parliament adjourned 

 hither from Weftminfter, on account of the plague. King' 

 Edward IV. 's marriage with Elizabeth, lady Grey, was 

 firil acknowledged at Reading, in 1464; on which oc- 

 cafion (he made her public appearance at the abbey, con- 

 dufted by the duke of Gloucelter and the earl of Warwick. 

 In 1466 parliament was a fecond time adjourned to Read- 

 ing, to avoid the plague. King Henry VIII. frequently 

 refided here, having converted the dillolved abbey into a 

 palace. His fon, king Edward VI., vifitcd this town in 

 1552, when he was met by the mayor and aldermen at 

 Colcy-Crofs, and prefented with two yokes of oxen ; the 

 mayor riding before him, uncovered, to the palace. The 



when they marched to I^ondon. In the reign of Alfred, fame ceremony was repeated, when Reading was vifited by 



who mounted the throne of Wefl'ex foon after this event, the bigotted Mary, and her hufband, king Philip of Spain, 



the Danes once more feized upon Reading, and they doubt- Queen Elizabeth was a frequent vifitant here, and had a 



lefs poll'efl'ed it occalionally during their ineurfions in the feat in the church of St. Lawrence. 



tenth century. Throughout that long period of iuceflcint Early in the reign of Charles I., when the plague raged 



Voj,. XXIX. 3 R with 



