Since the Civil War there has been only one small fight in Berkshire and that was in 1688. On December 6th of that year William of Orange reached Hungerford, and a force of 250 of his men came into conflict with 600 of James's Irish troops at Reading. Superior discipline enabled William's men to drive the Irish in confusion through the streets into the market-place where they attempted to rally, but being vigorously attacked in front, and fired upon at the same time by the inhabitants from the windows, they fled with the loss of their colours and 50 men, the conquerors only sustaining a loss of five. There is not much to say of the history of the county since that date, though, owing to the frequent residence of the Sovereign at Windsor, many an event of the highest importance and interest has taken place there. 15. ANTIQUITIES--(A) PREHISTORIC. We have no written records of Man as he first lived in our land long ages ago. Writing was an unknown art, and records--even if they had existed--could not have survived to come down to us. We therefore speak of this period as the Prehistoric--the time when the people of the past were unable themselves to record their story. Yet, though these sources of information are closed to us, we are able from the relics they have left behind them--the implements and weapons that they used, the bones of the animals they fed upon, the structures they erected--to form a fairly clear idea of these early peoples. But this Prehistoric period, vast in its extent, has for convenience sake been further subdivided. At first the metals were unknown, or at least unused, and this period is spoken of as the Stone Age, for it was of flints and other stones that weapons and domestic implements were mainly fashioned. Later, man learnt how to get the easily-worked ores of tin and copper from the rocks and by their admixture to form bronze. From this, beautiful weapons and other articles were made, and from the time of the discovery we date what is known as the Bronze Age. Doubtless the ores of iron had long been known, but how to smelt them was another matter. At length the method was discovered, and mankind was in possession of hard metal implements having great advantages for all purposes over those previously employed. Thus the Iron Age began, and the early inhabitants of Britain had arrived at this stage of civilisation when the Romans came to our land.