Page 43 - Reading Mercury

was going with that gate that he supposed he did not come by it honestly, and that he
ought to be laid hold on.. On which the old man threw the gate on the ground. And,
with a sharp pointed knife which he had ready drawn in his hand, ran upon him, and
stabbed him on the right breast; upon which he called out to his brother to take care,
for he was stabbed to death; and that Simon repeated these words on committing the
fact, There, d---n you, I have done for you;” and immediately run upon the deceased,
before he could well turn to defend himself, and stabbed him in the bowels with a
mortal wound four inches and a half deep; who fell down on his back, declaring, he
was a dead man!” On which the fellow said, “ And d---n you, I have done for you too.
Then the fourth or last man came up, and pushed him down on the ground; the
murderer recovered his feet, and as Hamton made at him again, Fox aimed a blow at
his heart, but, luckily for the poor young fellow, he held up his arm to ward off the
stab, and received a wound pretty near through the fleshy part of his right arm; when
he pulled him down a second time, and then he had time to pick up a stick, which the
wounded man dropt as he fell. By this time the foremost man came back to the
assistance of Hamton, and made at the prisoner, who had now recovered his feet, and
received a wound in the upper part of his thigh or groin; upon which Hamton struck
Fox on the back of the hand that had the knife in it, which dropped immediately on
the ground, and then with less fear they followed their blows, till they knocked him
down, and sat upon him till some people came up from a public house at the foot of
the hill where the murder was committed, who secured him, and released the poor
fellows that lay on him, with their wounds bleeding. When carrying the prisoner to a
place of security, he wished he had had his hanger and would have murdered every
one of them.---The prisoner’s defence was, ‘That he was coming home from
Billingsgate-market he saw the gate lie in the road, and he thought he had as much
right to it as another; that as he was stooping down to pick it up, Thomas Coston
knocked him down, and, on getting up again, repeated the same, upon which he
thought he had a right to fight for his life and stabbed the man who knocked him
down, and his brother deserved the same; which was all his defence. But a witness
proved he had brought the gate some distance, and had asked him to let him put it into
his cart, which he refused, for fear of being called to an account for it, as he suspected
it had been stolen.

PRICE of GRAIN
At WOKINGHAM
Wheat £16 10s 0d to £17 10s 0d. per Load
Oats 19s. 0d to 21s. 0d.
Barley 17s.0d to 30s 0d
Beans 30s 0d to 34s 01
Pease 36s 0d to 40s 0d

th
Fri 10 Feb
BERKSHIRE NEWS
WOKINGHAM Feb. 10.
ROYAL EXCHANGE ASSURANCE
This is to give notice, that the GOVERNOR and COMPANY of the Royal
Exchange Assurance, have constituted and appointed Mr. ROUND, of Windsor, in the
county of Berks, Attorney at Law, their agent and receiver for the said county of
Berks, and parts adjacent, in their business of assuring houses and goods and
merchandize from loss or damage by fire; and that the said Mr. Round is accordingly

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