_Meaning of "Slums."_--In Dr. Wiseman's _Appeal to the Reason and Good
Feeling of the English People_, we find the word "slums" made use of with
respect to the purlieus of Westminster Abbey. Warren, in a note of his
letter on "The Queen or the Pope?" asks "What are 'slums?' And where is the
word to be found explained? Is it Roman or Spanish? There is none such in
our language, at least used by gentlemen."
I would ask, may not the word be derived from _asylum_, seeing that the
precincts of abbeys, &c. used to be an asylum or place of refuge in ancient
times for robbers and murderers?