SMALLWEED FAMILY 
 
 
classical thing is this, Mrs. Jarley! 'Pon 
my soul and honor, it is quite Minervian!" 
"It'll look well, I fancy," observed Mrs. 
Jarley.  "Well!" said Mr. Slum; "It 
would be the delight of my life, 'pon my 
soul and honor, to exercise my Muse on 
such a delightful theme. By the way- 
any orders, madam? Is there anything I 
can do for you ?" (ch. xxviii.). 
  ", Ask the perfumers," said the military gentle- 
man, "ask the blacking-makers, ask the hatters, 
ask the old lottery office keepers, ask any man 
among 'em what poetry has done for him, and 
mark my word, he blesses the name of Slum.-C. 
Dickens, The Old Curiosity Shop (1840). 
 
  Slumkey (Samuel), "blue" candidate 
for the representation of the borough of 
Eatanswill in parliament. His opponent 
is Horatio Fizkin, who represents the 
"buff" interest.-C. Dickens, The Pick- 
wick Papers (1836). 
 
  Sly (Christopher), a keeper of bears, and 
a tinker. In the induction of Shake- 
speare's comedy called Taming of the Shrew, 
Christopher is found dead drunk by a 
nobleman, who commands his servant to 
take him to his mansion and attend on 
him as a lord. The trick is played, and 
the "commonty" of Taming of the Shrew 
is performed for the delectation of the 
ephemeral lord. 
  A similar trick was played by Haroun-al- 
Raschid on a rich merchant, named Abou 
Hassan (see Arabian Nights, "The Sleeper 
Awakened "). Also by Philippe le Bon 
of Burgundy, on his marriage with Elea- 
nora (see Burton, Anatomy of Melancholy, 
ii. 2, 4, 1624). 
 
  Slyne (Chevy), one of old Martin Chuz- 
zlewit's numerous relations.  He is a 
drunken, good-for-nothing vagabond, but 
his friend, Montague Tigg, considers him 
"an unappreciated genius."   His chief 
 
 
peculiarity consists in his always being 
"round the corner."-C. Dickens, Martin 
Chuzzlewit (1844). 
 
   Small (Gilbert), the pinmaker, a hard- 
 working old man, who loves his son most 
 dearly. 
   Thomas Small, the son of Gilbert, a 
 would-be man of fashion and maccaroni. 
 Very conceited of his fine person, he thinks 
 himself the very glass of fashion. Thomas 
 Small resolves to make a fortune by mar- 
 riage, and allies himself to Kate, who 
 turns out to be the daughter of Strap, the 
 cobbler.--S. Knowles, The Beggar of Beth- 
 nal Green (1834). 
 
   Small Beer Poet (The). W. Thomas 
Fitzgerald. He is now known only for 
one line, quoted in the Rejected Addresses: 
"The tree of freedom is the British oak." 
-Cobbett gave him the sobriquet (1759- 
1829). 
 
  Small-Endians, a "religious sect" in 
Lilliput, who made it an article of ortho- 
doxy to break their eggs at the small end. 
By the Small-endians is meant the Prot- 
estant party; the Roman Catholics are 
called the Big-endians, from their making 
it a sine qud non for all true Churchmen 
to break their eggs at the big end.-Swift,- 
Gulliver's Travels (" Voyage to Lilliput," 
1726). 
 
  Smallweed Family (The), a grasping, 
ill-conditioned lot, consisting of grand- 
father, grandmother, and the twins, Bar- 
tholomew and Judy. The grandfather 
indulges in  vituperative  exclamations 
against his aged wife, with or without 
provocation, and flings at her anything 
he can lay his hand on. He becomes, 
however, so dilapidated at last that he has 
to be shaken up by his amiable grand- 
                                   IV 
 
 
SLUM 
 
 
9