Morning journal and courier., 1884-04-14
A Talk About Charles Reaae.


 J. Meredith Read we'll known in the dipIo- matic and consular service of this country, was cousin of the late Charles Reade, and has from his boyhood been intimate with the novelist In an interview with reporter Of the New York Tribune the other day he said:
 q have just received a telegram from England which states that my cousin has ral- lied and that there ia ray of hope. I Sin cerely trust this may bs the case, but bronchitis is 8 treacherous enemy and Charles Reade is in his 7Oth year. You would not imagine so, were you to him, for he is a man of splendid physique, and does not by any means look his age. In fact, before the death of a near relative, to whom he had been more than kind, and the subse- qusnt death of his fayorite nephew, both of which shocks aged him considerably, he always looked a good ten or fifteen years younger than his actual age He is large man, tall and broad shouldered. Indeed, he used to have theory that he was not as con additionally strong as he would have been had he been few inches shorter He cIsinned that the heart had to pump the blood a longer distance, and therefore it's action would in the long run be impaired. But then he is full of quaint notions and conceits. l think Charles Reade is one of the best kind est and most truly great mea I have ever known. To appreciate him fully is is neces
 
 fault. he has been ever ready to assist those in distress, not only with his purse, but with his time and energy. Any hiat of injustice reused him to a leonine indignation. and he could not rest until he had done his best to set things right l have often thought that the bitter war be waged on those who did him personal injury did not proceed so much from selfish considera. tions as from the sense he had that iojastice had been done to individual. It WAS a mere incident shat that individual was him. self, but it was that fact that rendered him more cognizant of the details of the particu- lar injustice. Many people know of owe not only their means of livelihood. but their reason and life themselves to Charles Reade The very relative whose death so broke him down was restored to the full possession of her faculties by his constant care and atten- ton.
 'So open handed was he that in late years his friends remonstrated with him and in- duced him to look after his own interests more than he had been in the habit of doing. When he applied himself to busi- ness he was keen and shrewd, as you may imagine from some of his own works He made good deal of money by purchasing leases. He would see notice of house to let go in, examine the property and form his own conclusions as to it's value If he thought well of it hs would buy the lease, and it vas in but few instances that he did not realize good profit by selling it again in very short time
 Tremember meeting him in Paris once, and his saying to me: Those fools of Lon- don managers have obliged me to make lot of money lately. You know Idramatized the Wandering Herr and they would not cept it; so had to take it myself and bring it ont in the provinces. It was g success, and now, after forcing me to put $12, ,O00 in my pocket, they eager for it,
 ''I once asked him what he thought of the American system of interviewing. He de- clared himself strongly in it's favor. Just think, said he, what fine thing inter- view with Shakespeare would have beeni'
 ''He was great reader of newspapers, Anything that struck him as interesting, or any fact which tended to support one of his humanitarian theories, was cut out, pasted in large folio scrap book, and carefully in dexed. Facts of any so Tt were his hobby. had commission for him once, which took long time to fill. He wanted a complete set of the Gazette des Tribunaux, or record got it, but at the expense of much time and trouble.
 tsHis way of working is peculiar. When he has decided on 8 new work he plots cut the scheme situations, facts and characters on three large sheets of pasteboard. Then he sets to work, using very large foolscap to write on, and working rapidly, but with ire quent references to his storehouse of facts, in the scrap books. which ready to his hand. He used to live in little house in Albert Gate, the windows of his study looking out over the park. Some corporation wanted to get possession of the property, and used all manner of means to get the tenants out Rsade resisted this and fought them for four years, finally winning the battle. He christsned his house on this account Ma both's Vineyard As said, he wrote in room looking over the park. In his garden,