Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/424

 4:18 LIEN the Polish Piast family, who down to 1675 ruled the territory of Liegnitz. The manu- factures include table linen, hosiery, hats, to- bacco, &c. There are extensive vegetable gar- dens in the suburbs and surroundings. Fred- erick the Great won here a victory over the View in Liegnitz. Austrians on Aug. 15, 1760. The neighboring field of Wahlstatt witnessed the great battle of April 9, 1241, against the Mongols, and that of Aug. 26, 1813, in which Blticher defeated the French (battl'e of the Katzbach). The title of princess of Liegnitz was conferred by Fred- erick William III. of Prussia upon the count- ess Auguste von Harrach, with whom he con- tracted a morganatic marriage in 1824. LIEN (Fr. Her, to tie or bind), in its broader sense, every hold upon or right to property to secure the payment of a debt, or the discharge of an obligation. In this sense it includes mortgages, pledges, bottomries, and responden- tia. All of these are liens created by contract ; but in a narrower and more specific sense, it has been well defined as " a right in one man to retain that which is in his possession belong- ing to another till certain demands of the per- son in possession are satisfied." (Hammond v. Barclay, 2 East, 227.) Liens of this kind are seldom created by contract, but arise almost always by the operation of law upon the rela- tion between the parties. The most common of these are the liens of a carrier, an innkeeper, a factor, and a salvor. In addition to these, which are treated under their own titles, it may be said that modern law tends strongly to give this security to every bailee, or person to whom property is delivered, who receives the property for the purpose of improving its condition or adding to its value by putting his labor into the materials supplied hi in ; as a tailor, who by this rule would have a lien on the cloths delivered him to make up into gar- ments, for his wages or compensation for so doing; a watchmaker, employed to clean or repair a watch ; a bookbinder on books bound by him ; dyers on goods sent to them to be dyed, &c. It is by an extension of the same principle that an attorney has a lien on the papers in his hands, and on any judgment or money he may receive, for his demands against his client. For a similar reason, a banker has a general lien on the paper securities in his hands to cover his claims ; and so has an insurance broker, and if the assured transferred his interest in the policy, the transferee would take it subject to the broker's lien. In all these cases it will be observed that the lien is nothing more than a right to retain possession of the property. This principle is important because it makes possession absolutely es- sential to the lien, and therefore the lien is lost if the creditor give up the possession ; for the creditor is then supposed to waive and renounce the security he has upon the thing itself, and to trust only to his per- sonal demand against the debtor. For an analogous reason, it is a general rule, that if one who has a lien to secure a debt re- ceives from the debtor other and adequate security for the debt, he thereby waives . and loses his lien on the goods ; and if the creditor who thus loses his lien by giving up the possession, afterward comes into pos- session anew, he does not hold the goods by his former lien for security. In general liens are enforced in courts of equity. Upon peti- tion, they will decree a sale of the property to pay the debt, or take such other order as the case may require. It used to be thought that this was the only way in which the holder of property by lien could avail of it. Now, how- ever, it seems certain, in some cases of lien, and probably in all, that a creditor may him- self sell the property and pay the debt to him- self, holding the balance of proceeds, if any, for the debtor; provided that in all the circum- stances of the sale, the notice given to the debtor, the time, place, and manner of the sale (which should, generally at least, be by public auction), he consults, in all fairness and with reasonable discretion, the rights and interests of the debtor. In some cases there may be a kind of foreclosure ; in some the creditor may have a writ of scire facias against the debtor; in others there are precise provisions of law applicable to the case (as in mechanics' liens) ; and in all the fair agreement of the parties will determine their rights and obligations. There may be adverse liens on the same thing, and then the question arises as to which shall pre- vail ; and when that which prevails is satisfied,