REPORTS OF SOCIETIES. 
287 
Imports i)f Swicties. 
BIRMINGHAM NATURAL HISTORY AND MICROSCOPICAL 
SOCIETY. —Sociological Section, July 28th. The eleventh half-yearly 
field meeting of the section was held at Evesham. The members 
(numbering sixteen) assembled at New Street Station at 1.50, and took 
train to Evesham, where they were joined by Miss Gmgell, Mr. Slatter, 
Mr. Cullis, and Mr. F. Hughes, making the number up to twenty. 
Notwithstanding the rain which descended in a continuous downpour, 
tlie party, conducted by Mr. Slatter, walked through the town, and 
inspected the Parish Room, the two Chapels of All Saints and 
St. Lawrence, the Cloister Arch, and the Bell Tower. This last is a 
magnificent campanile, built by Clement Lichfield, the last real abbot 
of Evesham. It is one of the finest examples of late Gothic architecture 
now extant, and is in an excellent state of preservation. From the 
abbey the section proceeded to the residence of Mr. Slatter, and 
examined his extensive and valuable collection from the inferior 
oolite ; and from thence repaired to the hotel, where tea was provided. 
At six o’clock the chair was taken by the President, Mr. W. R. Hughes, 
F.L.S., who, after welcoming the visitors, read a letter from Mr. 
Herbert Spencer, inquiring after the welfare of a society established 
for the study of Sociology in Paris by M. Grosclande, C.E., and enclosed a 
communication from Mr. Skelton, of Brooklyn, U.S., announcing the 
opening of a society there, on similar lines, in connection with the 
second Unitarian Church of Brooklyn. The President then called 
upon Mr. Howard Pearson to read his paper on “ Simon de Montfort.” 
Mr. Pearson, who was cordially greeted on rising, after tracing the 
origin and history of the Montforts, said that Simon was one of the 
fathers of our constitutional liberty who had done great and lasting 
service to the English people, and who was not recognised according to 
his deserts. He was the one man of his age who understood the 
spirit of the English nation, yet he was passed over, by those who 
neither knew nor cared to whom they owed their liberty of speech, as 
a foreigner who failed. In 1258, when the vacillation and weakness of 
Henry III. had brought the people almost to a state of rebellion, a 
parliament was called, meeting at Oxford, from which issued the 
famous provisions of Oxford, by which the government was placed in 
the hands of a council. Twelve representatives of the Commons were 
to be called to the parliament, which was to meet three times a year, 
“ summoned or not.” Later on, at the period when Henry and Prince 
Edward were prisoners of Simon de Montfort, he took the momentous 
step of admitting the Commons to a still larger share in the govern¬ 
ment of the country, and summoned each town to choose and return 
two burgesses to be their representatives, which still abides the 
unalterable basis of our liberties. He was idolised by the Commons, 
revered by the Church, and held as a saint. His friends were 
passionately devoted to him, and amongst the little band which 
preferred to meet death rather than live without him, we have pride 
in numbering William, Lord of Birmingham. At the conclusion of 
Mr. Pearson’s paper, the President called upon Mr. Slatter, who gave 
an address on “ The Geology of the Yale of Evesham,” tracing the 
succession of the strata, and giving an account of their characteristic 
fossils, and their relation to the physical geography of the neighbour¬ 
hood. A vote of thanks to Mr. Howard Pearson for his admirable 
paper, proposed by Mr. A. Browett and seconded by Mr. Chase, and 
a vote of thanks to Mr. Slatter for his interesting and instructive 
address, and for his courtesy in conducting the party and permitting 
