The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1893-05-06
LAW AND MIXED ALE.
A Pertinent Query and An
Answer Which Cannot
Fail to Satisfy.


To the Editor of The Jersey Citg Neos;-
1 notice in yesterdays paper that you apply
the term, mixed ale lawyer to the Hon. Will
lam d. DAILY. whom you have also called. | have
noticed. from time to time, with much force,
and undoubtedly with proper and apt appiica-
ton, the bad Senator" Now, ! am puzzled.
Philologically, i cannot trace the term, mixed
ale lawyer" aud l am certain I never heard of
that kind of Il lawyer before. I have heard of
lawyers who had adjectivitai terms applied to
them, such as a philadelphia lawyer" a snisi
pri,ls lawyer" a .sTombs shyster, " a bum law
yer" a .ssnide lawyer" a ,s~.briefess lawyer"
and various other Kinds Of lawyers-but a
mixed ale' lawyer, never!
What is a mixed ale'' lawyer, Mr.. Editor? In
the name of philology, in particular. and the
legal fraternity, in general, let the light in on
this dark question! Respectfully yours,
JusTIrIA.
JERSEY Cry, May 8, 1898.
The term linked ale lawyer" does not
appear in Blackstone and is not even
| limited Mt in the later legal writer's of the
early English school. 1t seems fair to
presume, therefore, that the expression is
of recent origin and in the absence Of
authorities upon the subject a process of
pure reasoning becomes necessary to
evolve the meaning of this subtle and
abstruse legal phrase. No palmer or
more satisfactory explanation of language
as an abstra ct thing has been evolved
than the ''bow-wow7 theory, which main
tains that the word or phrase must be
expressive OF the physical or mental
characteristics OF the thing to which it is
applied.
Taxing the proposition seridtim. that is
the order in which it is stated: Is the
term mixed ale lawyer" expressive Of
the physical characteristics OF the thing
to which it is applied An ~unthinking
man would naturally answer yes, and
| proceed to draw an analogy between a
lawyer getting the wrong order signed
at the bar of justice and the same law
yer explaining to the .'Stunted Democrat
| of Hudson" how he happened TO do it at
the bar over which GA mbrinus presides
with a beer keg for he bench. Thep, as
a supporting argument, a likeness might
be drawn bet ween the shape of a beer vat
and that part Of some lawyers anatog,y
known as "the corporation" Again, the
| color of "mixed ale," VIII ich authorities
state is a mixture of porter and small
beer, might be likened to the rudy
complexion of a lawyer Co whose face
high thinking has caused rush of blood.
At first sight these arguments would
seem unanswerable. and they certain ly
are satisfactory. But If a conclusion is
to be thoroughly satisfactory it must be
drawn from premises which are solid as
rived at by taking a great num-
Der of isolated cases and striking
an average. And this is the rock
upon which this part of the propo-
sltion splits. If the term linked ale
lawyer" is co be explained as express
| sive of the physical characteristics
of the thing to which it is applied, 1t
must rest for its proof upon a single
isolated case. Surely the average law
yer does not get he wrong order signed
by the judge, nor hold up a bar while ex-
planning to his client how he happened to
A oG kS NJ lag 4CA0 "
roseate by high thinking.
No, this part of the 'bow WOW"
| theory must be abandoned because there
is but one linked ale" lawyer. A generic
term canno be proven by a thing sui
generis. And SO it becomes necessary to
fall back upon the second proposition
| Of the "bow WOW" theory. |. e.:-
1 MAT f1o rhraro aH 10 oynracrfv0
| of the mental characteristics OF the thing
to which it Is applied. The arguments in
support of this hypothesis are naturally
| more subtle and less OBVIOUS than those
of the first part of the theory, being
largely d~erivative and secondary in their
| nature. OF course if the phrase be sep
| arated and the word mixed" be taken
| by itself no further argument would be
necessary, for the mental characteristics
OF a lawyer who gets the wrong order
signed by a Judge and then is damned
fool enough to tell how ne happened TO do
it, are certainly mixed" or en-
| tirely lacking. But the phrase
is "mixed ale" and not .mixed;n the
| word ''ale'' must be accounted for. This
at first seems a hopeless riddle. but we
| think it has a solution. The word sale"
| does not in this case stand for the liquor
| of that name. "a mixed ale" lawyer is
therefore not like a mixed ale" fighter,
one who trains on a mixture of porter
and small beer.)
It is evident that in this case the word
saIe'' is a corruption Of the word ''ele-
mentary," or Elementary" in the old
Saxon spelling, made up of the rwo parts
''ale" and "mentary" (Latin, Mems. the
| mind meaning primary operations of the
mind. A step farther, a joining of the
links, and the brilliant flash light of pure
| reason makes clear as day that which
seemed a hopeless rangle, and vindicates
the ebow wow" theory, that the word or
phrase must be expressive of the physical
or mental characteristics of the thing to
which it is applied.
A mixed ale" lawyer is a lawyer
| whose mental characteristics res'elemen-
tary" and linked" @. E. ID.
In conclusion we do not think it is a
term of distinguished consideration.
"THE GREAT REPUBLIC"
So $500 TN