FOOTNOTE:

[1] The Greek equivalents of _lictor_ are [Greek: rabdouchos,

rabdophoros, rabdonomos] (rod-bearer); the Latin word is variously

derived from: (a) _ligare_, to bind or arrest a criminal; (b)

_licere_, to summon, as convoking assemblies or haling offenders

before the magistrate; (c) _licium_, the girdle with which (according

to some) their toga was held up; (d) Plutarch (_Quaestiones Romanae_,

67), assuming an older form [Greek: litôr], suggests an

identification with [Greek: leitourgos], one who performs a public

office.

LIDDELL, HENRY GEORGE (1811-1898), English scholar and divine, eldest

son of the Rev. Henry George Liddell, younger brother of the first Baron

Ravensworth, was born at Binchester, near Bishop Auckland, on the 6th of

February 1811. He was educated at Charterhouse and Christ Church,

Oxford. Gaining a double first in 1833, Liddell became a college tutor,

and was ordained in 1838. In the same year Dean Gaisford appointed him

Greek reader in Christ Church, and in 1846 he was appointed to the

headmastership of Westminster School. Meanwhile his life work, the great

_Lexicon_ (based on the German work of F. Passow), which he and Robert

Scott began as early as 1834, had made good progress, and the first

edition appeared in 1843. It immediately became the standard

Greek-English dictionary and still maintains this rank, although,

notwithstanding the great additions made of late to our Greek vocabulary

from inscriptions, papyri and other sources, scarcely any enlargement

has been made since about 1880. The 8th edition was published in 1897.

As headmaster of Westminster Liddell enjoyed a period of great success,

followed by trouble due to the outbreak of fever and cholera in the

school. In 1855 he accepted the deanery of Christ Church, then vacant by

the death of Gaisford. In the same year he brought out a _History of

Ancient Rome_ (much used in an abridged form as the _Student's History

of Rome_) and took a very active part in the first Oxford University

Commission. His tall figure, fine presence and aristocratic mien were

for many years associated with all that was characteristic of Oxford

life. Coming just at the transition period when the "old Christ Church,"

which Pusey strove so hard to preserve, was inevitably becoming broader

and more liberal, it was chiefly due to Liddell that necessary changes

were effected with the minimum of friction. In 1859 Liddell welcomed the

then prince of Wales when he matriculated at Christ Church, being the

first holder of that title who had matriculated since Henry V. In

conjunction with Sir Henry Acland, Liddell did much to encourage the

study of art at Oxford, and his taste and judgment gained him the

admiration and friendship of Ruskin. In 1891, owing to advancing years,

he resigned the deanery. The last years of his life were spent at Ascot,

where he died on the 18th of January 1898. Dean Liddell married in July

1846 Miss Lorina Reeve (d. 1910), by whom he had a numerous family.

See memoir by H. L. Thompson, _Henry George Liddell_ (1899).

LIDDESDALE, the valley of Liddel Water, Roxburghshire, Scotland,

extending in a south-westerly direction from the vicinity of Peel Fell

to the Esk, a distance of 21 m. The Waverley route of the North British

railway runs down the dale, and the Catrail, or Picts' Dyke, crosses its

head. At one period the points of vantage on the river and its affluents

were occupied with freebooters' peel-towers, but many of them have

disappeared and the remainder are in decay. Larriston Tower belonged to

the Elliots, Mangerton to the Armstrongs and Park to "little Jock

Elliot," the outlaw who nearly killed Bothwell in an encounter in 1566.

The chief point of interest in the valley, however, is Hermitage Castle,

a vast, massive H-shaped fortress of enormous strength, one of the

oldest baronial buildings in Scotland. It stands on a hill overlooking

Hermitage Water, a tributary of the Liddel. It was built in 1244 by

Nicholas de Soulis and was captured by the English in David II.'s reign.

It was retaken by Sir William Douglas, who received a grant of it from

the king. In 1492 Archibald Douglas, 5th earl of Angus, exchanged it for

Bothwell Castle on the Clyde with Patrick Hepburn, 1st earl of Bothwell.

It finally passed to the duke of Buccleuch, under whose care further

ruin has been arrested. It was here that Sir Alexander Ramsay of

Dalhousie was starved to death by Sir William Douglas in 1342, and that

James Hepburn, 4th earl of Bothwell, was visited by Mary, queen of

Scots, after the assault referred to.

To the east of the castle is Ninestane Rig, a hill 943 ft. high, 4 m.

long and 1 m. broad, where it is said that William de Soulis, hated

for oppression and cruelty, was (in 1320) boiled by his own vassals in

a copper cauldron, which was supported on two of the nine stones which

composed the "Druidical" circle that gave the ridge its name. Only

five of the stones remain. James Telfer (1802-1862), the writer of

ballads, who was born in the parish of Southdean (pronounced Soudan),

was for several years schoolmaster of Saughtree, near the head of the

valley. The castle of the lairds of Liddesdale stood near the junction

of Hermitage Water and the Liddel and around it grew up the village of

Castleton.

LIDDON, HENRY PARRY (1829-1890), English divine, was the son of a naval

captain and was born at North Stoneham, Hampshire, on the 20th of August

1829. He was educated at King's College School, London, and at Christ

Church, Oxford, where he graduated, taking a second class, in 1850. As

vice-principal of the theological college at Cuddesdon (1854-1859) he

wielded considerable influence, and, on returning to Oxford as

vice-principal of St Edmund's Hall, became a growing force among the

undergraduates, exercising his influence in strong opposition to the

liberal reaction against Tractarianism, which had set in after Newman's

secession in 1845. In 1864 the bishop of Salisbury (W. K. Hamilton),

whose examining chaplain he had been, appointed him prebendary of

Salisbury cathedral. In 1866 he delivered his Bampton Lectures on the

doctrine of the divinity of Christ. From that time his fame as a

preacher, which had been steadily growing, may be considered

established. In 1870 he was made canon of St Paul's Cathedral, London.

He had before this published _Some Words for God_, in which, with great

power and eloquence, he combated the scepticism of the day. His

preaching at St Paul's soon attracted vast crowds. The afternoon sermon,

which fell to the lot of the canon in residence, had usually been

delivered in the choir, but soon after Liddon's appointment it became

necessary to preach the sermon under the dome, where from 3000 to 4000

persons used to gather to hear the preacher. Few orators belonging to

the Church of England have acquired so great a reputation as Liddon.

Others may have surpassed him in originality, learning or reasoning

power, but for grasp of his subject, clearness of language, lucidity of

arrangement, felicity of illustration, vividness of imagination,

elegance of diction, and above all, for sympathy with the intellectual

position of those whom he addressed, he has hardly been rivalled. In the

elaborate arrangement of his matter he is thought to have imitated the

great French preachers of the age of Louis XIV. In 1870 he had also been

made Ireland professor of exegesis at Oxford. The combination of the two

appointments gave him extensive influence over the Church of England.

With Dean Church he may be said to have restored the waning influence of

the Tractarian school, and he succeeded in popularizing the opinions

which, in the hands of Pusey and Keble, had appealed to thinkers and

scholars. His forceful spirit was equally conspicuous in his opposition

to the Church Discipline Act of 1874, and in his denunciation of the

Bulgarian atrocities of 1876. In 1882 he resigned his professorship and

utilized his thus increased leisure by travelling in Palestine and

Egypt, and showed his interest in the Old Catholic movement by visiting

Döllinger at Munich. In 1886 he became chancellor of St Paul's, and it

is said that he declined more than one offer of a bishopric. He died on

the 9th of September 1890, in the full vigour of his intellect and at

the zenith of his reputation. He had undertaken and nearly completed an

elaborate life of Dr Pusey, for whom his admiration was unbounded; and

this work was completed after his death by Messrs Johnston and Wilson.

Liddon's great influence during his life was due to his personal

fascination and the beauty of his pulpit oratory rather than to any high

qualities of intellect. As a theologian his outlook was that of the 16th

rather than the 19th century; and, reading his Bampton Lectures now, it

is difficult to realize how they can ever have been hailed as a great

contribution to Christian apologetics. To the last he maintained the

narrow standpoint of Pusey and Keble, in defiance of all the

developments of modern thought and modern scholarship; and his latter

years were embittered by the consciousness that the younger generation

of the disciples of his school were beginning to make friends of the

Mammon of scientific unrighteousness. The publication in 1889 of _Lux

Mundi_, a series of essays attempting to harmonize Anglican Catholic

doctrine with modern thought, was a severe blow to him, for it showed

that even at the Pusey House, established as the citadel of Puseyism at

Oxford, the principles of Pusey were being departed from. Liddon's

importance is now mainly historical. He was the last of the classical

pulpit orators of the English Church, the last great popular exponent of

the traditional Anglican orthodoxy. Besides the works mentioned, Liddon

published several volumes of _Sermons_, a volume of Lent lectures

entitled _Some Elements of Religion_ (1870), and a collection of _Essays

and Addresses_ on such themes as Buddhism, Dante, &c.

See _Life and Letters_, by J. O. Johnston (1904); G. W. E. Russell,

_H. P. Liddon_ (1903); A. B. Donaldson, _Five Great Oxford Leaders_

(1900), from which the life of Liddon was reprinted separately in

1905.

LIE, JONAS LAURITZ EDEMIL (1833-1908), Norwegian novelist, was born on

the 6th of November 1833 close to Hougsund (Eker), near Drammen. In

1838, his father being appointed sheriff of Tromsö, the family removed

to that Arctic town. Here the future novelist enjoyed an untrammelled

childhood among the shipping of the little Nordland capital, and gained

acquaintance with the wild seafaring life which he was afterwards to

describe. In 1846 he was sent to the naval school at Frederiksvaern, but

his extreme near-sight unfitted him for the service, and he was

transferred to the Latin school at Bergen. In 1851 he went to the

university of Christiania, where Ibsen and Björnson were among his

fellow-students. Jonas Lie, however, showed at this time no inclination

to literature. He pursued his studies as a lawyer, took his degrees in

law in 1858, and settled down to practice as a solicitor in the little

town of Kongsvinger. In 1860 he married his cousin, Thomasine Lie, whose

collaboration in his work he acknowledged in 1893 in a graceful article

in the _Samtiden_ entitled "Min hustru." In 1866 he published his first

book, a volume of poems. He made unlucky speculations in wood, and the

consequent financial embarrassment induced him to return to Christiania

to try his luck as a man of letters. As a journalist he had no success,

but in 1870 he published a melancholy little romance, _Den Fremsynte_

(Eng. trans., _The Visionary_, 1894), which made him famous. Lie

proceeded to Rome, and published Tales in 1871 and _Tremasteren

"Fremtiden"_ (Eng. trans., _The Barque "Future,"_ Chicago, 1879), a

novel, in 1872. His first great book, however, was _Lodsen og hans

Hustru_ (_The Pilot and his Wife_, 1874), which placed him at the head

of Norwegian novelists; it was written in the little town of Rocca di

Papa in the Albano mountains. From that time Lie enjoyed, with Björnson

and Ibsen, a stipend as poet from the Norwegian government. Lie spent

the next few years partly in Dresden, partly in Stuttgart, with frequent

summer excursions to Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian highlands. During his

exile he produced the drama in verse called _Faustina Strozzi_ (1876).

Returning to Norway, Lie began a series of romances of modern life in

Christiania, of which _Thomas Ross_ (1878) and _Adam Schrader_ (1879)

were the earliest. He returned to Germany, and settled first in Dresden

again, then in Hamburg, until 1882, when he took up his abode in Paris,

where he lived in close retirement in the society of Scandinavian

friends. His summers were spent at Berchtesgaden in Tirol. The novels of

his German period are _Rutland_ (1881) and _Gaa paa_ ("_Go Ahead!_"

1882), tales of life in the Norwegian merchant navy. His subsequent

works, produced with great regularity, enjoyed an immense reputation in

Norway. Among the best of them are: _Livsslaven_ (1883, Eng. trans.,

"_One of Life's Slaves_," 1895); _Familjen paa Gilje_ ("_The Family of

Gilje_," 1883); _Malstroem_ (1885), describing the gradual ruin of a

Norwegian family; _Et Samliv_ ("_Life in Common_," 1887), describing a

marriage of convenience. Two of the most successful of his novels were

_The Commodore's Daughters_ (1886) and Niobe (1894), both of which were

presented to English readers in the International library, edited by Mr

Gosse. In 1891-1892 he wrote, under the influence of the new romantic

impulse, twenty-four folk-tales, printed in two volumes entitled

_Trold_. Some of these were translated by R. N. Bain in _Weird Tales_

(1893), illustrated by L. Housman. Among his later works were the

romance _Naar Sol gaar ned_ ("_When the Sun goes down_," 1895), the

powerful novel of _Dyre Rein_ (1896), the fairy drama of _Lindelin_

(1897), _Faste Forland_ (1899), a romance which contains much which is

autobiographical, _When the Iron Curtain falls_ (1901), and _The Consul_

(1904). _His Samlede Vaerker_ were published at Copenhagen in 14 vols.

(1902-1904). Jonas Lie left Paris in 1891, and, after spending a year in

Rome, returned to Norway, establishing himself at Holskogen, near

Christiansand. He died at Christiania on the 5th of July 1908. As a

novelist he stands with those minute and unobtrusive painters of

contemporary manners who defy arrangement in this or that school. He is

with Mrs Gaskell or Ferdinand Fabre; he is not entirely without relation

with that old-fashioned favourite of the public, Fredrika Bremer.

His son, Erik Lie (b. 1868), published a successful volume of stories,

_Med Blyanten_, in 1890; and is also the author of various works on

literary history. An elder son, Mons Lie (b. 1864), studied the violin

in Paris, but turned to literature in 1894. Among his works are the

plays _Tragedier om Kjaerlighed_ (1897); _Lombardo and Agrippina_

(1898); _Don Juan_ (1900); and the novels, _Sjöfareren_ (1901); _Adam

Ravn_ (1903) and _I. Kvindensnet_ (1904). (E. G.)

LIE, MARIUS SOPHUS (1842-1899), Norwegian mathematician, was born at

Nordfjordeif, near Bergen, on the 17th of December 1842, and was educated

at the university of Christiania, where he took his doctor's degree in

1868 and became extraordinary professor of mathematics (a chair created

specially for him) four years later. In 1886 he was chosen to succeed

Felix Klein in the chair of geometry at Leipzig, but as his fame grew a

special post was arranged for him in Christiania. But his health was

broken down by too assiduous study, and he died at Christiania on the

18th of February 1899, six months after his return. Lie's work exercised

a great influence on the progress of mathematical science during the

later decades of the 19th century. His primary aim has been declared to

be the advancement and elaboration of the theory of differential

equations, and it was with this end in view that he developed his theory

of transformation groups, set forth in his _Theorie der

Transformationsgruppen_ (3 vols., Leipzig, 1888-1893), a work of wide

range and great originality, by which probably his name is best known. A

special application of his theory of continuous groups was to the general

problem of non-Euclidean geometry. The latter part of the book above

mentioned was devoted to a study of the foundations of geometry,

considered from the standpoint of B. Riemann and H. von Helmholtz; and he

intended to publish a systematic exposition of his geometrical

investigations, in conjunction with Dr G. Scheffers, but only one volume

made its appearance (_Geometrie der Berührungstransformationen_, Leipzig,

1896). Lie was a foreign member of the Royal Society, as well as an

honorary member of the Cambridge Philosophical Society and the London

Mathematical Society, and his geometrical inquiries gained him the

much-coveted honour of the Lobatchewsky prize.

An analysis of Lie's works is given in the _Bibliotheca Mathematica_

(Leipzig, 1900).

LIEBER, FRANCIS (1800-1872), German-American publicist, was born at

Berlin on the 18th of March 1800. He served with his two brothers under

Blücher in the campaign of 1815, fighting at Ligny, Waterloo and Namur,

where he was twice dangerously wounded. Shortly afterwards he was

arrested for his political sentiments, the chief evidence against him

being several songs of liberty which he had written. After several

months he was discharged without a trial, but was forbidden to pursue

his studies at the Prussian universities. He accordingly went to Jena,

where he took his degrees in 1820, continuing his studies at Halle and

Dresden. He subsequently took part in the Greek War of Independence,

publishing his experiences in his _Journal in Greece_ (Leipzig, 1823,

and under the title _The German Anacharsis_, Amsterdam, 1823). For a

year he was in Rome as tutor to the son of the historian Niebuhr, then

Prussian ambassador. Returning to Berlin in 1823, he was imprisoned at

Koepenik, but was released after some months through the influence of

Niebuhr. In 1827 he went to the United States and as soon as possible

was naturalized as a citizen. He settled at Boston, and for five years

edited _The Encyclopaedia Americana_ (13 vols.). From 1835 to 1856 he

was professor of history and political economy in South Carolina College

at Columbia, S.C., and during this period wrote his three chief works,

_Manual of Political Ethics_ (1838), _Legal and Political Hermeneutics_

(1839), and _Civil Liberty and Self Government_ (1853). In 1856 he

resigned and next year was elected to a similar post in Columbia

College, New York, and in 1865 became professor of constitutional

history and public law in the same institution. During the Civil War

Lieber rendered services of great value to the government. He was one

of the first to point out the madness of secession, and was active in

upholding the Union. He prepared, upon the requisition of the president,

the important _Code of War for the Government of the Armies of the

United States in the Field_, which was promulgated by the Government in

General Orders No. 100 of the war department. This code suggested to

Bluntschli his codification of the law of nations, as may be seen in the

preface to his _Droit International Codifié_. During this period also

Lieber wrote his _Guerilla Parties with Reference to the Laws and Usages

of War_. At the time of his death he was the umpire of the commission

for the adjudication of Mexican claims. He died on the 2nd of October

1872. His books were acquired by the University of California, and his

papers were placed in the Johns Hopkins University.

His _Miscellaneous Writings_ were published by D. C. Gilman

(Philadelphia, 1881). See T. S. Perry, _Life and Letters_ (1882), and

biography by Harby (1899).

LIEBERMANN, MAX (1849- ), German painter and etcher, was born in

Berlin. After studying under Steffeck, he entered the school of art at

Weimar in 1869. Though the straightforward simplicity of his first

exhibited picture, "Women plucking Geese," in 1872, presented already a

striking contrast to the conventional art then in vogue, it was heavy

and bituminous in colour, like all the artist's paintings before his

visit to Paris at the end of 1872. A summer spent at Barbizon in 1873,

where he became personally acquainted with Millet and had occasion to

study the works of Corot, Troyon, and Daubigny, resulted in the clearing

and brightening of his palette, and taught him to forget the example of

Munkacsy, under whose influence he had produced his first pictures in

Paris. He subsequently went to Holland, where the example of Israels

confirmed him in the method he had adopted at Barbizon; but on his

return to Munich in 1878 he caused much unfavourable criticism by his

realistic painting of "Christ in the Temple," which was condemned by the

clergy as irreverent and remained his only attempt at a scriptural

subject. Henceforth he devoted himself exclusively to the study of

free-light and to the painting of the life of humble folk. He found his

best subjects in the orphanages and asylums for the old in Amsterdam,

among the peasants in the fields and village streets of Holland, and in

the beer-gardens, factories, and workrooms of his own country. Germany

was reluctant, however, in admitting the merit of an artist whose style

and method were so markedly at variance with the time-honoured academic

tradition. Only when his fame was echoed back from France, Belgium, and

Holland did his compatriots realize the eminent position which is his

due in the history of German art. It is hardly too much to say that

Liebermann has done for his country what Millet did for France. His

pictures hold the fragrance of the soil and the breezes of the heavens.

His people move in their proper atmosphere, and their life is stated in

all its monotonous simplicity, without artificial pathos or melodramatic

exaggeration. His first success was a medal awarded him for "An Asylum

for Old Men" at the 1881 Salon. In 1884 he settled again in Berlin,

where he became professor of the Academy in 1898. He became a member of

the Société nationale des Beaux Arts, of the Société royale belge des

Aquarellistes, and of the Cercle des Aquarellistes at the Hague.

Liebermann is represented in most of the German and other continental

galleries. The Berlin National Gallery owns "The Flax-Spinners"; the

Munich Pinakothek, "The Woman with Goats"; the Hamburg Gallery, "The

Net-Menders"; the Hanover Gallery, the "Village Street in Holland." "The

Seamstress" is at the Dresden Gallery; the "Man on the Dunes" at

Leipzig; "Dutch Orphan Girls" at Strassburg; "Beer-cellar at

Brandenburg" at the Luxembourg Museum in Paris, and the "Knöpflerinnen"

in Venice. His etchings are to be found in the leading print cabinets of

Europe.

LIEBIG, JUSTUS VON, BARON (1803-1873), German chemist, was born at

Darmstadt, according to his baptismal certificate, on the 12th of May

1803 (4th of May, according to his mother). His father, a drysalter and

dealer in colours, used sometimes to make experiments in the hope of

finding improved processes for the production of his wares, and thus his

son early acquired familiarity with practical chemistry. For the

theoretical side he read all the text-books which he could find,

somewhat to the detriment of his ordinary school studies. Having

determined to make chemistry his profession, at the age of fifteen he

entered the shop of an apothecary at Appenheim, near Darmstadt; but he

soon found how great is the difference between practical pharmacy and

scientific chemistry, and the explosions and other incidents that

accompanied his private efforts to increase his chemical knowledge

disposed his master to view without regret his departure at the end of

ten months. He next entered the university of Bonn, but migrated to

Erlangen when the professor of chemistry, K. W. G. Kastner (1783-1857),

was appointed in 1821 to the chair of physics and chemistry at the

latter university. He followed this professor to learn how to analyse

certain minerals, but in the end he found that the teacher himself was

ignorant of the process. Indeed, as he himself said afterwards, it was a

wretched time for chemistry in Germany. No laboratories were accessible

to ordinary students, who had to content themselves with what the

universities could give in the lecture-room and the library, and though

both at Bonn and Erlangen Liebig endeavoured to make up for the

deficiencies of the official instruction by founding a students'

physical and chemical society for the discussion of new discoveries and

speculations, he felt that he could never become a chemist in his own

country. Therefore, having graduated as Ph.D. in 1822, he left

Erlangen--where he subsequently complained that the contagion of the

"greatest philosopher and metaphysician of the century" (Schelling), in

a period "rich in words and ideas, but poor in true knowledge and

genuine studies," had cost him two precious years of his life--and by

the liberality of Louis I., grand-duke of Hesse-Darmstadt, was enabled

to go to Paris. By the help of L. J. Thénard he gained admission to the

private laboratory of H. F. Gaultier de Claubry (1792-1873), professor

of chemistry at the École de Pharmacie, and soon afterwards, by the

influence of A. von Humboldt, to that of Gay-Lussac, where in 1824 he

concluded his investigations on the composition of the fulminates. It

was on Humboldt's advice that he determined to become a teacher of

chemistry, but difficulties stood in his way. As a native of

Hesse-Darmstadt he ought, according to the academical rules of the time,

to have studied and graduated at the university of Giessen, and it was

only through the influence of Humboldt that the authorities forgave him

for straying to the foreign university of Erlangen. After examination

his Erlangen degree was recognized, and in 1824 he was appointed

extraordinary professor of chemistry at Giessen, becoming ordinary

professor two years later. In this small town his most important work

was accomplished. His first care was to persuade the Darmstadt

government to provide a chemical laboratory in which the students might

obtain a proper practical training. This laboratory, unique of its kind

at the time, in conjunction with Liebig's unrivalled gifts as a teacher,

soon rendered Giessen the most famous chemical school in the world; men

flocked from every country to enjoy its advantages, and many of the most

accomplished chemists of the 19th century had to thank it for their

early training. Further, it gave a great impetus to the progress of

chemical education throughout Germany, for the continued admonitions of

Liebig combined with the influence of his pupils induced many other

universities to build laboratories modelled on the same plan. He

remained at Giessen for twenty-eight years, until in 1852 he accepted

the invitation of the Bavarian government to the ordinary chair of

chemistry at Munich university, and this office he held, although he was

offered the chair at Berlin in 1865, until his death, which occurred at

Munich on the 10th of April 1873.

Apart from Liebig's labours for the improvement of chemical teaching,

the influence of his experimental researches and of his contributions

to chemical thought was felt in every branch of the science. In regard

to methods and apparatus, mention should be made of his improvements

in the technique of organic analysis, his plan for determining the

natural alkaloids and for ascertaining the molecular weights of

organic bases bv means of their chloroplatinates, his process for

determining the quantity of urea in a solution--the first step

towards the introduction of precise chemical methods into practical

medicine--and his invention of the simple form of condenser known in

every laboratory. His contributions to inorganic chemistry were

numerous, including investigations on the compounds of antimony,

aluminium, silicon, &c., on the separation of nickel and cobalt, and

on the analysis of mineral waters, but they are outweighed in

importance by his work on organic substances. In this domain his first

research was on the fulminates of mercury and silver, and his study of

these bodies led him to the discovery of the isomerism of cyanic and

fulminic acids, for the composition of fulminic acid as found by him

was the same as that of cyanic acid, as found by F. Wöhler, and it

became necessary to admit them to be two bodies which differed in

properties, though of the same percentage composition. Further work on

cyanogen and connected substances yielded a great number of

interesting derivatives, and he described an improved method for the

manufacture of potassium cyanide, an agent which has since proved of

enormous value in metallurgy and the arts. In 1832 he published,

jointly with Wöhler, one of the most famous papers in the history of

chemistry, that on the oil of bitter almonds (benzaldehyde), wherein

it was shown that the radicle benzoyl might be regarded as forming an

unchanging constituent of a long series of compounds obtained from oil

of bitter almonds, throughout which it behaved like an element.

Berzelius hailed this discovery as marking the dawn of a new era in

organic chemistry, and proposed for benzoyl the names "Proïn" or

"Orthrin" (from [Greek: prôi] and [Greek: örthrus]). A continuation of

their work on bitter almond oil by Liebig and Wöhler, who remained

firm friends for the rest of their lives, resulted in the elucidation

of the mode of formation of that substance and in the discovery of the

ferment emulsin as well as the recognition of the first glucoside,

amygdalin, while another and not less important and far-reaching

inquiry in which they collaborated was that on uric acid, published in

1837. About 1832 he began his investigations into the constitution of

ether and alcohol and their derivatives. These on the one hand

resulted in the enunciation of his ethyl theory, by the light of which

he looked upon those substances as compounds of the radicle ethyl

(C2H5), in opposition to the view of J. B. A. Dumas, who regarded them

as hydrates of olefiant gas (ethylene); on the other they yielded

chloroform, chloral and aldehyde, as well as other compounds of less

general interest, and also the method of forming mirrors by depositing

silver from a slightly ammoniacal solution by acet aldehyde. In 1837

with Dumas he published a note on the constitution of organic acids,

and in the following year an elaborate paper on the same subject

appeared under his own name alone; by this work T. Graham's doctrine

of polybasicity was extended to the organic acids. Liebig also did

much to further the hydrogen theory of acids.

These and other studies in pure chemistry mainly occupied his

attention until about 1838, but the last thirty-five years of his life

were devoted more particularly to the chemistry of the processes of

life, both animal and vegetable. In animal physiology he set himself

to trace out the operation of determinate chemical and physical laws

in the maintenance of life and health. To this end he examined such

immediate vital products as blood, bile and urine; he analysed the

juices of flesh, establishing the composition of creatin and

investigating its decomposition products, creatinin and sarcosin; he

classified the various articles of food in accordance with the special

function performed by each in the animal economy, and expounded the

philosophy of cooking; and in opposition to many of the medical

opinions of his time taught that the heat of the body is the result of

the processes of combustion and oxidation performed within the

organism. A secondary result of this line of study was the preparation

of his food for infants and of his extract of meat. Vegetable

physiology he pursued with special reference to agriculture, which he

held to be the foundation of all trade and industry, but which could

not be rationally practised without the guidance of chemical

principles. His first publication on this subject was _Die Chemie in

ihrer Anwendung auf Agricultur und Physiologie_ in 1840, which was at

once translated into English by Lyon Playfair. Rejecting the old

notion that plants derive their nourishment from humus, he taught that

they get carbon and nitrogen from the carbon dioxide and ammonia

present in the atmosphere, these compounds being returned by them to

the atmosphere by the processes of putrefaction and

fermentation--which latter he regarded as essentially chemical in

nature--while their potash, soda, lime, sulphur, phosphorus, &c., come

from the soil. Of the carbon dioxide and ammonia no exhaustion can

take place, but of the mineral constituents the supply is limited

because the soil cannot afford an indefinite amount of them; hence the

chief care of the farmer, and the function of manures, is to restore

to the soil those minerals which each crop is found, by the analysis

of its ashes, to take up in its growth. On this theory he prepared

artificial manures containing the essential mineral substances

together with a small quantity of ammoniacal salts, because he held

that the air does not supply ammonia fast enough in certain cases, and

carried out systematic experiments on ten acres of poor sandy land

which he obtained from the town of Giessen in 1845. But in practice

the results were not wholly satisfactory, and it was a long time

before he recognized one important reason for the failure in the fact

that to prevent the alkalis from being washed away by the rain he had

taken pains to add them in an insoluble form, whereas, as was

ultimately suggested to him by experiments performed by J. T. Way

about 1850, this precaution was not only superfluous but harmful,

because the soil possesses a power of absorbing the soluble saline

matters required by plants and of retaining them, in spite of rain,

for assimilation by the roots.

Liebig's literary activity was very great. The Royal Society's

_Catalogue of Scientific Papers_ enumerates 318 memoirs under his

name, exclusive of many others published in collaboration with other

investigators. A certain impetuousness of character which disposed him

to rush into controversy whenever doubt was cast upon the views he

supported accounted for a great deal of writing, and he also carried

on an extensive correspondence with Wöhler and other scientific men.

In 1832 he founded the _Annalen der Pharmazie_, which became the

_Annalen der Chemie und Pharmazie_ in 1840 when Wöhler became

joint-editor with himself, and in 1837 with Wöhler and Poggendorff he

established the _Handwörterbuch der reinen und angewandten Chemie_.

After the death of Berzelius he continued the _Jahresbericht_ with H.

F. M. Kopp. The following are his most important separate

publications, many of which were translated into English and French

almost as soon as they appeared: _Anleitung zur Analyse der

organischen Körper_ (1837); _Die Chemie in ihrer Anwendung auf

Agrikultur und Physiologie_ (1840); _Die Thier-Chemie oder die

organische Chemie in ihrer Anwendung auf Physiologie und Pathologie_

(1842); _Handbuch der organischen Chemie mit Rücksicht auf Pharmazie_

(1843); _Chemische Briefe_ (1844); _Chemische Untersuchungen über das

Fleisch und seine Zubereitung zum Nahrungsmittel_ (1847); _Die

Grundsätze der Agrikultur-Chemie_ (1855); _Über Theorie und Praxis in

der Landwirthschaft_ (1856); _Naturwissenschaftliche Briefe über die

moderne Landwirtschaft_ (1859). A posthumous collection of his

miscellaneous addresses and publications appeared in 1874 as _Reden

und Abhandlungen_, edited by his son George (b. 1827). His criticism

of Bacon, _Über Francis von Verulam_, was first published in 1863 in

the _Augsburger allgemeine Zeitung_, where also most of his letters on

chemistry made their first appearance.

See _The Life Work of Liebig_ (London, 1876), by his pupil A. W. von

Hofmann, which is the Faraday lecture delivered before the London

Chemical Society in March 1875, and is reprinted in Hofmann's _Zur

Erinnerung an vorangegangene Freunde_; also W. A. Shenstone, _Justus

von Liebig, his Life and Work_ (1895).

LIEBKNECHT, WILHELM (1826-1900), German socialist, was burn at Giessen

on the 29th of March 1826. Left an orphan at an early age, he was

educated at the gymnasium in his native town, and attended the

universities of Giessen, Bonn and Marburg. Before he left school he had

become affected by the political discontent then general in Germany; he

had already studied the writings of St Simon, from which he gained his

first interest in communism, and had been converted to the extreme

republican theories of which Giessen was a centre. He soon came into

conflict with the authorities, and was expelled from Berlin apparently

in consequence of the strong sympathy he displayed for some Poles, who

were being tried for high treason. He proposed in 1846 to migrate to

America, but went instead to Switzerland, where he earned his living as

a teacher. As soon as the revolution of 1848 broke out he hastened to

Paris, but the attempt to organize a republican corps for the invasion

of Germany was prevented by the government. In September, however, in

concert with Gustav von Struve, he crossed the Rhine from Switzerland at

the head of a band of volunteers, and proclaimed a republic in Baden.

The attempt collapsed; he was captured, and, after suffering eight

months' imprisonment, was brought to trial. Fortunately for him, a new

rising had just broken out; the mob burst into the court, and he was

acquitted. During the short duration of the revolutionary government he

was an active member of the most extreme party, but on the arrival of

the Prussian troops he succeeded in escaping to France. Thence he went

to Geneva, where he came into intercourse with Mazzini; but, unlike most

of the German exiles, he was already an adherent of the socialist creed,

which at that time was more strongly held in France. Expelled from

Switzerland he went to London, where he lived for thirteen years in

close association with Karl Marx. He endured great hardships, but

secured a livelihood by teaching and writing; he was a correspondent of

the _Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung_. The amnesty of 1861 opened for him

the way back to Germany, and in 1862 he accepted the post of editor of

the _Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung_, the founder of which was an old

revolutionist. Only a few months elapsed before the paper, passed under

Bismarck's influence. There is no more curious episode in German

history than the success with which Bismarck acquired the services of

many of the men of 1848, but Liebknecht remained faithful to his

principles and resigned his editorship. He became a member of the

Arbeiterverein, and after the death of Ferdinand Lassalle he was the

chief mouthpiece in Germany of Karl Marx, and was instrumental in

spreading the influence of the newly-founded _International_. Expelled

from Prussia in 1865, he settled at Leipzig, and it is primarily to his

activity in Saxony among the newly-formed unions of workers that the

modern social democrat party owes its origin. Here he conducted the

_Demokratisches Wochenblatt_. In 1867 he was elected a member of the

North German Reichstag, but in opposition to Lassalle's followers he

refused all compromise with the "capitalists," and avowedly used his

position merely for purposes of agitation whilst taking every

opportunity for making the parliament ridiculous. He was strongly

influenced by the "great German" traditions of the democrats of 1848,

and, violently anti-Prussian, he distinguished himself by his attacks on

the policy of 1866 and the "revolution from above," and by his

opposition to every form of militarism. His adherence to the traditions

of 1848 are also seen in his dread of Russia, which he maintained to his

death. His opposition to the war of 1870 exposed him to insults and

violence, and in 1872 he was condemned to two years' imprisonment in a

fortress for treasonable intentions. The Union of the German Socialists

in 1874 at the congress of Gotha was really a triumph of his influence,

and from that time he was regarded as founder and leader of the party.

From 1874 till his death he was a member of the German Reichstag, and

for many years also of the Saxon diet. He was one of the chief spokesmen

of the party, and he took a very important part in directing its policy.

In 1881 he was expelled from Leipzig, but took up his residence in a

neighbouring village. After the lapse of the Socialist law (1890) he

became chief editor of the _Vorwärts_, and settled in Berlin. If he did

not always find it easy in his later years to follow the new

developments, he preserved to his death the idealism of his youth, the

hatred both of Liberalism and of State Socialism; and though he was to

some extent overshadowed by Bebel's greater oratorical power, he was the

chief support of the orthodox Marxian tradition. Liebknecht was the

author of numerous pamphlets and books, of which the most important

were: _Robert Blum und seine Zeit_ (Nuremberg, 1892); _Geschichte der

Französischen Revolution_ (Dresden, 1890); _Die Emser Depesche_

(Nuremberg, 1899) and _Robert Owen_ (Nuremberg, 1892). He died at

Charlottenburg on the 6th of August 1900.

See Kurt Eisner, _Wilhelm Liebknecht, sein Leben und Wirken_ (Berlin,

1900).

LIECHTENSTEIN, the smallest independent state in Europe, save San Marino

and Monaco. It lies some way S. of the Lake of Constance, and extends

along the right bank of the Rhine, opposite Swiss territory, between

Sargans and Sennwald, while on the E. it also comprises the upper

portion of the Samina glen that joins the Ill valley at Frastanz, above

Feldkirch. It is about 12 m. in length, and covers an area of 61.4 or

68.8 sq. m. (according to different estimates). Its loftiest point rises

at the S.E. angle of the state, in the Rhätikon range, and is named to

Naafkopf or the Rothe Wand (8445 ft.); on its summit the Swiss,

Vorarlberg, and Liechtenstein frontiers join. In 1901 the population was

9477 (of whom 4890 were women and 4587 men). The capital is Vaduz (1523

ft.), with about 1100 inhabitants, and 2 m. S. of the Schaan railway

station, which is 2 m. from Buchs (Switz.). Even in the 17th century the

Romonsch language was not extinguished in the state, and many Romonsch

place-names still linger, e.g. Vaduz, Samina, Gavadura, &c. Now the

population is German-speaking and Romanist. The constitution of 1862 was

amended in 1878, 1895 and 1901. All males of 24 years of age are primary

electors, while the diet consists of 12 members, holding their seats for

4 years and elected indirectly, together with 3 members nominated by the

prince. The prince has a lieutenant resident at Vaduz, whence there is

an appeal to the prince's court at Vienna, with a final appeal (since

1884) to the supreme district court at Innsbruck. Compulsory military

service was abolished in 1868, the army having till then been 91 strong.

The principality forms ecclesiastically part of the diocese of Coire,

while as regards customs duties it is joined with the Vorarlberg, and as

regards postal and coinage arrangements with Austria, which (according

to the agreement of 1852, renewed in 1876, by which the principality

entered the Austrian customs union) must pay it at least 40,000 crowns

annually. In 1904 the revenues of the principality amounted to 888,931

crowns, and its expenditure to 802,163 crowns. There is no public debt.

The county of Vaduz and the lordship of Schellenberg passed through many

hands before they were bought in 1613 by the count of Hohenems (to the

N. of Feldkirch). In consequence of financial embarrassments, that

family had to sell both (the lordship in 1699, the county in 1713) to

the Liechtenstein family, which had since the 12th century owned two

castles of that name (both now ruined), one in Styria and the other a

little S.W. of Vienna. In 1719 these new acquisitions were raised by the

emperor into a principality under the name of Liechtenstein, which

formed part successively of the Holy Roman Empire (till 1806) and of the

German Confederation (1815-1866), having been sovereign 1806-1815 as

well as since 1866.

See J. Falke's _Geschichte d. fürstlichen Hauses Liechtenstein_ (3

vols., Vienna, 1868-1883); J. C. Heer, _Vorarlberg und Liechtenstein_

(Feldkirch, 1906); P. Kaiser, _Geschichte d. Fürstenthums

Liechtenstein_ (Coire, 1847); F. Umlauft, _Das Fürstenthum

Liechtenstein_ (Vienna, 1891); E. Walder, _Aus den Bergen_ (Zürich,

1896); A. Waltenberger, _Algäu, Vorarlberg, und Westtirol_ (Rtes. 25

and 26) (10th ed., Innsbruck, 1906). (W. A. B. C.)

LIÉGE, one of the nine provinces of Belgium, touching on the east the

Dutch province of Limburg and the German district of Rhenish Prussia. To

a certain extent it may be assumed to represent the old

prince-bishopric. Besides the city of Liége it contains the towns of

Verviers, Dolhain, Seraing, Huy, &c. The Meuse flows through the centre

of the province, and its valley from Huy down to Herstal is one of the

most productive mineral districts in Belgium. Much has been done of late

years to develop the agricultural resources of the Condroz district

south of the Meuse. The area of the province is 723,470 acres, or 1130

sq. m. The population in 1904 was 863,254, showing an average of 763 per

sq. m.

LIÉGE (Walloon, _Lige_, Flemish, _Luik_, Ger. _Lüttich_), the capital of

the Belgian province that bears its name. It is finely situated on the

Meuse, and was long the seat of a prince-bishopric. It is the centre of

the Walloon country, and Scott commits a curious mistake in _Quentin

Durward_ in making its people talk Flemish. The Liége Walloon is the

nearest existing approach to the old Romance language. The importance of

the city to-day arises from its being the chief manufacturing centre in

Belgium, and owing to its large output of arms it has been called the

Birmingham of the Netherlands. The productive coal-mines of the Meuse

valley, extending from its western suburb of Seraing to its northern

faubourg of Herstal, constitute its chief wealth. At Seraing is

established the famous manufacturing firm of Cockerill, whose offices

are in the old summer palace of the prince-bishops.

The great cathedral of St Lambert was destroyed and sacked by the French

in 1794, and in 1802 the church of St Paul, dating from the 10th century

but rebuilt in the 13th, was declared the cathedral. The law courts are

installed in the old palace of the prince-bishops, a building which was

constructed by Bishop Everard de la Marck between 1508 and 1540. The new

boulevards are well laid out, especially those flanking the river, and

the views of the city and surrounding country are very fine. The

university, which has separate schools for mines and arts and

manufactures, is one of the largest in the country, and enjoys a high

reputation for teaching in its special line.

Liége is a fortified position of far greater strength than is generally

appreciated. In the wars of the 18th century Liége played but a small

part. It was then defended only by the citadel and a detached fort on

the right side of the Meuse, but at a short distance from the river,

called the Chartreuse. Marlborough captured these forts in 1703 in

preparation for his advance in the following year into Germany which

resulted in the victory of Blenheim. The citadel and the Chartreuse were

still the only defences of Liége in 1888 when, after long discussions,

the Belgian authorities decided on adequately fortifying the two

important passages of the Meuse at Liége and Namur. A similar plan was

adopted at each place, viz. the construction of a number of detached

forts along a perimeter drawn at a distance varying from 4 to 6 m. of

the town, so as to shelter it so far as possible from bombardment. At

Liége twelve forts were constructed, six on the right bank and six on

the left. Those on the right bank beginning at the north and following

an eastern curve are Barchon, Evegnée, Fléron, Chaudfontaine, Embourg

and Boncelles. The average distance between each fort is 4 m., but

Fléron and Chaudfontaine are separated by little over 1 m. in a direct

line as they defend the main line of railway from Germany. The six forts

on the left bank also commencing at the north, but following a western

curve, are Pontisse, Liers, Lantin, Loncin, Hollogne and Flemalle. These

forts were constructed under the personal direction of General

Brialmont, and are on exactly the same principle as those he designed

for the formidable defences of Bucarest. All the forts are constructed

in concrete with casemates, and the heavy guns are raised and lowered

automatically. Communication is maintained between the different forts

by military roads in all cases, and by steam tramways in some. It is

estimated that 25,000 troops would be required for the defence of the

twelve forts, but the number is inadequate for the defence of so

important and extensive a position. The population of Liége, which in

1875 was only 117,600, had risen by 1900 to 157,760, and in 1905 it was

168,532.

_History._--Liége first appears in history about the year 558, at which

date St Monulph, bishop of Tongres, built a chapel near the confluence

of the Meuse and the Legia. A century later the town, which had grown up

round this chapel, became the favourite abode of St Lambert, bishop of

Tongres, and here he was assassinated. His successor St Hubert raised a

splendid church over the tomb of the martyred bishop about 720 and made

Liége his residence. It was not, however, until about 930 that the title

bishop of Tongres was abandoned for that of bishop of Liége. The

episcopate of Notger (972-1008) was marked by large territorial

acquisitions, and the see obtained recognition as an independent

principality of the Empire. The popular saying was "Liége owes Notger to

God, and everything else to Notger." By the munificent encouragement of

successive bishops Liége became famous during the 11th century as a

centre of learning, but the history of the town for centuries records

little else than the continuous struggles of the citizens to free

themselves from the exactions of their episcopal sovereigns; the aid of

the emperor and of the dukes of Brabant being frequently called in to

repress the popular risings. In 1316 the citizens compelled Bishop

Adolph de la Marck to sign a charter, which made large concessions to

the popular demands. It was, however, a triumph of short duration, and

the troubles continued, the insurgent subjects now and again obtaining a

fleeting success, only to be crushed by the armies of the powerful

relatives of the bishops, the houses of Brabant or of Burgundy. During

the episcopate of Louis de Bourbon (1456-1484) the Liégeois, having

expelled the bishop, had the temerity to declare war on Philip V., duke

of Burgundy. Philip's son, Charles the Bold, utterly defeated them in

1467, and razed the walls of the town to the ground. In the following

year the citizens again revolted, and Charles being once more successful

delivered up the city to sack and pillage for three days, and deprived

the remnant of the citizens of all their privileges. This incident is

narrated in _Quentin Durward_. The long episcopate of Eberhard de la

Marck (1505-1538) was a time of good administration and of quiet, during

which the town regained something of its former prosperity. The outbreak

of civil war between two factions, named the _Cluroux_ and the

_Grignoux_, marked the opening of the 17th century. Bishop Maximilian

Henry of Bavaria (1650-1688) at last put an end to the internal strife

and imposed a regulation (_règlement_) which abolished all the free

institutions of the citizens and the power of the gilds. Between this

date and the outbreak of the French Revolution the chief efforts of the

prince-bishops were directed to maintaining neutrality in the various

wars, and preserving their territory from being ravaged by invading

armies. They were only in part successful. Liége was taken by

Marlborough in 1702, and the fortress was garrisoned by the Dutch until

1718. The French revolutionary armies overran the principality in 1792,

and from 1794 to the fall of Napoleon it was annexed to France, and was

known as the department of the Ourthe. The Congress of Vienna in 1815

decreed that Liége with the other provinces of the southern Netherlands

should form part of the new kingdom of the Netherlands under the rule of

William I., of the house of Orange. The town of Liége took an active

part in the Belgian revolt of 1830, and since that date the ancient

principality has been incorporated in the kingdom of Belgium.

The see, which at first bore the name of the bishopric of Tongres, was

under the metropolitan jurisdiction of the archbishops of Cologne. The

principality comprised besides the town of Liége and its district, the

counties of Looz and Hoorn, the marquessate of Franchimont, and the

duchy of Bouillon.

AUTHORITIES.--Théodore Bouille, _Histoire de la ville et du pays de

Liége_ (3 vols., Liége, 1725-1732); A. Borgnet, _Histoire de la

révolution liégeoise_ (2 vols., Liége, 1865); Baron B. C. de Gerlache,

_Histoire de Liége_ (Brussels, 1843); J. Daris, _Histoire du diocèse

et de la principauté de Liége_ (10 vols., Liége, 1868-1885); Ferdinand

Henaux, _Histoire du pays de Liége_ (2 vols., Liége, 1857); L. Polain,

_Histoire de l'ancien pays de Liége_ (2 vols., Liége, 1844-1847). For

full bibliography see Ulysse Chevalier, _Répertoire des sources

historiques_. _Topo-bibliographie_, s.v. (Montbéliard, 1900).

LIEGE, an adjective implying the mutual relationship of a feudal

superior and his vassal; the word is used as a substantive of the feudal

superior, more usually in this sense, however, in the form "liege lord,"

and also of the vassals, his "lieges." Hence the word is often used of

the loyal subjects of a sovereign, with no reference to feudal ties. It

appears that _ligeitas_ or _ligentia_, the medieval Latin term for this

relationship, was restricted to a particular form of homage. According

to N. Broussel (_Nouvel examen de l'usage général des fiefs en France_,

1727) the homage of a "liege" was a stronger form of the ordinary

homage, the especial distinction being that while the ordinary vassal

only undertook forty days' military service, the liege promised to serve

as long as the war might last, in which his superior was engaged (cf.

Ducange, _Glossarium_, s.v. "_Ligius_").

The etymology of the word has been much discussed. It comes into English

through the O. Fr. _lige_ or _liege_, Med. Lat. _ligius_. This was early

connected with the Lat. _ligatus_, bound, _ligare_, to bind, from the

sense of the obligation of the vassal to his lord, but this has been

generally abandoned. Broussel takes the Med. Lat. _liga_, i.e.,

_foedus_, _confederatio_, the English "league," as the origin. Ducange

connects it with the word _lities_, which appears in a gloss of the

Salic law, and is defined as a _scriptitius_, _servus glebae_. The more

usually accepted derivation is now from the Old High Ger. _ledic_, or

_ledig_, meaning "free" (Mod. Ger. _ledig_ means unoccupied, _vacuus_).

This is confirmed by the occurrence in a charter of Otto of Benthem,

1253, of a word "ledigh-man" (quoted in Ducange, _Glossarium_, s.v.),

_Proinde affecti sumus ligius homo, quod Teutonice dictur Ledighman_.

Skeat, in explaining the application of "free" to such a relationship as

that subsisting between a feudal superior and his vassal, says "'a

_liege_ lord' seems to have been the lord of a free band; and his

_lieges_, though serving under him, were privileged men, free from all

other obligations; their name being due to their _freedom_, not to their

service" (_Etym. Dict._, ed. 1898). A. Luchaire (_Manuel des

institutions françaises_, 1892, p. 189, n. 1) considers it difficult to

call a man "free" who is under a strict obligation to another; further

that the "liege" was not free from all obligation to a third party, for

the charters prove without doubt that the "liege men" owed duty to more

than one lord.

LIEGNITZ, a town in Germany, in the Prussian province of Silesia,

picturesquely situated on the Katzbach, just above its junction with

the Schwarzwasser, and 40 m. W.N.W, of Breslau, on the main line of

railway to Berlin via Sommerfeld. Pop. (1885) 43,347, (1905) 59,710. It

consists of an old town, surrounded by pleasant, shady promenades, and

several well-built suburbs. The most prominent building is the palace,

formerly the residence of the dukes of Liegnitz, rebuilt after a fire in

1835 and now used as the administrative offices of the district. The

Ritter Akademie, founded by the emperor Joseph I. in 1708 for the

education of the young Silesian nobles, was reconstructed as a gymnasium

in 1810. The Roman Catholic church of St John, with two fine towers,

contains the burial vault of the dukes. The principal Lutheran church,

that of SS. Peter and Paul (restored in 1892-1894), dates from the 14th

century. The manufactures are considerable, the chief articles made

being cloth, wool, leather, tobacco, pianos and machinery. Its trade in

grain and its cattle-markets are likewise important. The large market

gardens in the suburbs grow vegetables of considerable annual value.

Liegnitz is first mentioned in an historical document in the year 1004.

In 1163 it became the seat of the dukes of Liegnitz, who greatly

improved and enlarged it. The dukes were members of the illustrious

Piast family, which gave many kings to Poland. During the Thirty Years'

War Liegnitz was taken by the Swedes, but was soon recaptured by the

Imperialists. The Saxon army also defeated the imperial troops near

Liegnitz in 1634. On the death of the last duke of Liegnitz in 1675, the

duchy came into the possession of the Empire, which retained it until

the Prussian conquest of Silesia in 1742. On the 15th of August 1760

Frederick the Great gained a decisive victory near Liegnitz over the

Austrians, and in August 1813 Blücher defeated the French in the

neighbourhood at the battle of the Katzbach. During the 19th century

Liegnitz rapidly increased in population and prosperity. In 1906 the

German autumn manoeuvres were held over the terrain formerly the scene

of the great battles already mentioned.

See Schuchard, _Die Stadt Liegnitz_ (Berlin, 1868); Sammter and

Kraffert, _Chronik von Liegnitz_ (Liegnitz, 1861-1873); Jander,

_Liegnitz in seinem Entwickelungsgange_ (Liegnitz, 1905); and _Führer

für Liegnitz und seine Umgebung_ (Liegnitz, 1897); and the

_Urkundenbuch der Stadt Liegnitz bis 1455_, edited by Schirrmacher

(Liegnitz, 1866).

LIEN, in law. The word _lien_ is literally the French for a band, cord

or chain, and keeping in mind that meaning we see in what respect it

differs from a pledge on the one hand and a mortgage on the other. It is

the bond which attaches a creditor's right to a debtor's property, but

which gives no right _ad rem_, i.e. to property in the thing; if the

property is in the possession of the creditor he may retain it, but in

the absence of statute he cannot sell to recover what is due to him

without the ordinary legal process against the debtor; and if it is not

in possession, the law would indeed assist him to seize the property,

and will hold it for him, and enable him to sell it in due course and

pay himself out of the proceeds, but does not give him the property

itself. It is difficult to say at what period the term lien made its

appearance in English law; it probably came from more than one source.

In fact, it was used as a convenient phrase for any right against the

owner of property in regard to the property not specially defined by

other better recognized species of title.

The possessory lien of a tradesman for work done on the thing, of a

carrier for his hire, and of an innkeeper for his bill, would seem to be

an inherent right which must have been in existence from the dawn, or

before the dawn, of civilization. Probably the man who made or repaired

weapons in the Stone Age was careful not to deliver them until he

received what was stipulated for, but it is also probable that the term

itself resulted from the infusion of the civil law of Rome into the

common law of England which the Norman Conquest brought about, and that

it represents the "tacit pledge" of the civil law. As might be expected,

so far as the possessory lien is concerned the common law and civil law,

and probably the laws of all countries, whether civilized or not,

coincide; but there are many differences with respect to other species

of lien. For instance, by the common law--in this respect a legacy of

the feudal system--a landlord has a lien over his tenant's furniture and

effects for rent due, which can be enforced without the assistance of

the law simply by the landlord taking possession, personally or by his

agent, and selling enough to satisfy his claim; whereas the maritime

lien is more distinctly the product of the civil law, and is only found

and used in admiralty proceedings, the high court of admiralty having

been founded upon the civil law, and still (except so far as restrained

by the common-law courts prior to the amalgamation and co-ordination of

the various courts by the Judicature Acts, and as affected by statute

law) acting upon it. The peculiar effects of this maritime lien are

discussed below. There is also a class of liens, usually called

equitable liens (e.g. that of an unpaid vendor of real property over the

property sold), which are akin to the nature of the civil law rather

than of the common law. The word lien does not frequently occur in

statute law, but it is found in the extension of the common-law

"carriers' or shipowners' lien" in the Merchant Shipping Act 1894; in

the definition, extension and limitation of the vendor's lien; in the

Factors Act 1877, and the Sale of Goods Act 1893; in granting a maritime

lien to a shipmaster for his wages and disbursements, and in regulating

that of the seamen in the Merchant Shipping Act 1894; and in the equity

jurisdiction of the county courts 1888.

_Common-Law Liens._--These may be either particular, i.e. a right over

one or more specified articles for a particular debt, or general, i.e.

for all debts owing to the creditor by the debtor.

The requisites for a particular lien are, firstly, that the creditor

should be in possession of the article; secondly, that the debt should

be incurred with reference to the article; and thirdly, that the amount

of the debt should be certain. It may be created by express contract, by

implied contract (such as the usage of a particular trade or business),

or as a consequence of the legal relation existing between the parties.

As an example of the first, a shipowner at common law has a lien on the

cargo for the freight; but though the shipper agrees to pay dead freight

in addition, i.e. to pay freight on any space in the ship which he fails

to occupy with his cargo, the shipowner has no lien on the cargo for

such dead freight except by express agreement. The most usual form of

the second is that which is termed a possessory lien--the right a

ship-repairer has to retain a ship in his yard till he is paid for the

repairs executed upon her,[1] and the right a cobbler has to retain a

pair of shoes till he is paid for the repairs done to them. But this

lien is only in respect of the work done on, and consequent benefit

received by, the subject of the lien. Hence an agistor of cattle has no

lien at common law upon them for the value of the pasturage consumed,

though he may have one by agreement; nor a conveyancer upon deeds which

he has not drawn, but which are in his possession for reference. The

most common example of the third is that of a carrier, who is bound by

law to carry for all persons, and has, therefore, a lien for the price

of the carriage on the goods carried. It has been held that even if the

goods are stolen, and entrusted to the carrier by the thief, the carrier

can hold them for the price of the carriage against the rightful owner.

Of the same nature is the common-law lien of an innkeeper on the baggage

of his customer for the amount of his account, he being under a legal

obligation to entertain travellers generally. Another instance of the

same class is where a person has obtained possession of certain things

over which he claims to hold a lien in the exercise of a legal right.

For example, when a lord of a manor has seized cattle as estrays, he has

a lien upon them for the expense of their keep as against the real

owner; but the holder's claim must be specific, otherwise a general

tender of compensation releases the lien.

A general lien is a right of a creditor to retain property, not merely

for charges relating to it specifically, but for debts due on a general

account. This not being a common-law right, is viewed by the English

courts with the greatest jealousy, and to be enforced must be strictly

proved. This can be done by proof either of an express or implied

contract or of a general usage of trade. The first of these is

established by the ordinary methods or by previous dealings between the

parties on such terms; the second is recognized in certain businesses;

it would probably be exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to extend

it at the present time to any other trades. When, however, a lien by

general usage has once been judicially established, it becomes part of

the Law Merchant, and the courts are bound to recognize and enforce it.

The best known and most important instance is the right of a solicitor

to retain papers in his hands belonging to his client until his account

is settled. The solicitor's lien, though probably more commonly enforced

than any other, is of no great antiquity in English law, the earliest

reported case of it being in the reign of James II.; but it is now of a

twofold nature. In the first place there is the retaining lien. This is

similar in kind to other possessory liens, but of a general nature

attaching to all papers of the client, and even to his money, up to the

amount of the solicitor's bill, in the hands of the solicitor in the

ordinary course of business. There are certain exceptions which seem to

have crept in for the same reason as the solicitor's lien itself, i.e.

general convenience of litigation; such exceptions are the will of the

client after his decease, and proceedings in bankruptcy. In this latter

case the actual possessory lien is given up, the solicitor's interests

and priorities being protected by the courts, and it may be said that

the giving up the papers is really only a means of enforcing the lien

they give in the bankruptcy proceedings. In the second place there is

what is called a charging lien--more correctly classed under the head of

equitable lien, since it does not require possession, but is a lien the

solicitor holds over property recovered or preserved for his client. He

had the lien on an order by the court upon a fund in court by the common

law, but as to property generally it was only given by 23 & 24 Vict. c.

127, § 28; and it has been held to attach to property recovered in a

probate action (_ex parte Tweed_, C.A. 1899, 2 Q.B. 167). A banker's

lien is the right of a banker to retain securities belonging to his

customer for money due on a general balance. Other general liens,

judicially established, are those of wharfingers, brokers and factors

(which are in their nature akin to those of solicitors and bankers), and

of calico printers, packers of goods, fullers (at all events at Exeter),

dyers and millers; but in all these special trades it is probable that

the true reason is that the account due was for one continuous

transaction. The calico would come to be printed, the goods to be

packed, the cloth to be bleached, the silk to be dyed, and the corn to

be ground, in separate parcels, and at different times, but all as one

undertaking; and they are therefore, though spoken of as instances of

general lien, only adaptations by the courts of the doctrine of

particular lien to special peculiarities of business. In none of these

cases would the lien exist, in the absence of special agreement, for

other matters of account, such as money lent or goods sold.

_Equitable Liens._--"Where equity has jurisdiction to enforce rights and

obligations growing out of an executory contract," e.g. in a suit for

specific performance, "this equitable theory of remedies cannot be

carried out unless the notion is admitted that the contract creates some

right or interest in or over specific property, which the decree of the

court can lay hold of, and by means of which the equitable relief can be

made efficient. The doctrine of equitable liens supplies this necessary

element; and it was introduced for the sole purpose of furnishing a

ground for these specific remedies which equity confers, operating upon

particular identified property instead of the general pecuniary

recoveries granted by courts of common law. It follows, therefore, that

in a large class of executory contracts express and implied, which the

common law regards as creating no property, right nor interest analogous

to property, but only a mere personal right to obligation, equity

recognizes in addition to the personal obligation a particular right

over the thing with which the contract deals, which it calls a _lien_,

and which though not property is analogous to property, and by means of

which the plaintiff is enabled to follow the identical thing and to

enforce the defendant's obligation by a remedy which operates directly

on the thing. The theory of equitable liens has its ultimate

foundation, therefore, in contracts express or implied which either deal

or in some manner relate to specific property, such as a tract of land,

particular chattels or securities, a certain fund and the like. It is

necessary to divest oneself of the purely legal notion concerning the

effects of such contracts, and to recognize the fact that equity regards

them as creating a charge upon, or hypothecation of, the specific thing,

by means of which the personal obligation arising from the agreement may

be more effectively enforced than by a mere pecuniary recovery at law"

(Pomeroy, 2 Eq. Jur. 232).

This description from an American text-book seems to give at once the

fullest and most concise definition and description of an equitable

lien. It differs essentially from a common-law lien, inasmuch as in the

latter possession or occupation is as a rule necessary, whereas in the

equitable lien the person claiming the lien is seldom in possession or

occupation of the property, its object being to obtain the possession

wholly or partially. A special instance of such a lien is that claimed

by a publisher over the copyright of a book which he has agreed to

publish on terms which are not complied with--for example, the author

attempting to get the book published elsewhere. It cannot perhaps be

said that this has been absolutely decided to exist, but a strong

opinion of the English court of exchequer towards the close of the 18th

century was expressed in its favour (_Brook_ v. _Wentworth_, 3

Anstruther 881). Other instances are the charging lien of a solicitor,

and the lien of a person on improvements effected by him on the property

of another who "lies by" and allows the work to be done before claiming

the property. So also of a trustee for expenses lawfully incurred about

the trust property. The power of a limited liability company to create a

lien upon its own shares was in 1901 established (_Allen_ v. _Gold

Reefs, &c._, C.A. 1900, 1 Ch. 656).

_Maritime Liens._--Maritime lien differs from all the others yet

considered, in its more elastic nature. Where a maritime lien has once

attached to property--and it may and generally does attach without

possession--it will continue to attach, unless lost by laches, so long

as the thing to which it attaches exists, notwithstanding changes in the

possession of and property in the thing, and notwithstanding that the

new possessor or owner may be entirely ignorant of its existence; and

even if enforced it leaves the owner's personal liability for any

balance unrealized intact (the "_Gemma_," 1899, P. 285). So far as

England is concerned, it must be borne in mind that the courts of

admiralty were conducted in accordance with the principles of civil law,

and in that law both the pledge with possession and the hypothecation

without possession were well recognized. The extreme convenience of such

a right as the latter with regard to such essentially movable chattels

as ships is apparent. Strictly speaking, a maritime lien is confined to

cases arising in those matters over which the courts of admiralty had

original jurisdiction, viz. collisions at sea, seamen's wages, salvage

and bottomry, in all of which cases the appropriate remedy is a

proceeding _in rem_ in the admiralty court. In the first of

these--collisions at sea--if there were no maritime lien there would

frequently be no remedy at all. When two ships have collided at sea it

may well be that the innocent ship knows neither the name nor the

nationality of the wrongdoer, and the vessel may escape with slight

damage and not have to make a port of refuge in the neighbourhood.

Months afterwards it is ascertained that she was a foreign ship, and in

the interval she has changed owners. Then, were it not a fact that a

maritime lien invisible to the wrongdoer nevertheless attaches itself to

his ship at the moment of collision, and continues to attach, the

unfortunate owner of the innocent ship would have no remedy, except the

doubtful one of pursuing the former owner of the wrong-doing vessel in

his own country in a personal action where such proceedings are

allowed--which is by no means the case in all foreign countries. The

same reasons apply, though not possibly with quite the same force, to

the other classes of cases mentioned.

Between 1840 and 1873 the jurisdiction of the admiralty court was

largely extended. At the latter date it was merged in the probate,

divorce and admiralty division of the High Court of Justice. Since the

merger questions have arisen as to how far the enlargement of

jurisdiction has extended the principle of maritime lien. An interesting

article on this subject by J. Mansfield, barrister-at-law, will be found

in the _Law Quarterly Review_, vol. iv., October 1888. It must be

sufficient to state here that where legislation has extended the already

existing jurisdiction to which a maritime lien pertained, the maritime

lien is extended to the subject matter, but that where a new

jurisdiction is given, or where a jurisdiction formerly existing without

a maritime lien is extended, no maritime lien is given, though even then

the extended jurisdiction can be enforced by proceedings _in rem_. Of

the first class of extended jurisdictions are collisions, salvage and

seamen's wages. Prior to 1840 the court of admiralty only had

jurisdiction over these when occurring or earned on the high seas. The

jurisdiction, and with it the maritime lien, is extended to places

within the body of a county in collision or salvage; and as to seamen's

wages, whereas they were dependent on the earning of freight, they are

now free from any such limitation; and also, whereas the remedy _in rem_

was limited to seamen's wages not earned under a special contract, it is

now extended to all seamen's wages, and also to a master's wages and

disbursements, and the maritime lien covers all these. The new

jurisdiction given over claims for damage to cargo carried into any port

in England or Wales, and on appeal from the county courts over all

claims for damage to cargo under £300, though it may be prosecuted by

proceedings _in rem_, i.e. by arrest of the ship, yet confers no

maritime lien; and so also in the case of claims by material men

(builders and fitters-out of ships) and for necessaries. Even though in

the latter case the admiralty court had jurisdiction previously to 1840

where the necessaries were supplied on the high seas, yet as it could

not be shown that such jurisdiction had ever been held to confer a

maritime lien, no such lien is given. Even now there is much doubt as to

whether towage confers a maritime lien or not, the services rendered

being pursuant to contract, and frequently to a contract made verbally

or in writing on the high seas, and being rendered also to a great

extent on the high seas. In these cases and to that extent the high

court of admiralty would have had original jurisdiction. But prior to

1840 towage, as now rendered by steam tugs expressly employed for the

service, was practically unknown, and therefore there was no established

catena of precedent to show the exercise of a maritime lien. It may be

argued on the one hand that towage is only a modified form of salvage,

and therefore entitled to a maritime lien, and on the other that it is

only a form of necessary power supplied like a new sail or mast to a

ship to enable her to complete her voyage expeditiously, and therefore

of the nature of necessaries, and as such not entitled to a maritime

lien. The matter is not of academical interest only, for though in the

case of an inward-bound ship the tug owner can make use of his statutory

right of proceeding _in rem_, and so obtain much of the benefit of a

maritime lien, yet in the case of an outward-bound ship, if she once

gets away without payment, and the agent or other authorized person

refuses or is unable to pay, the tug owner's claim may, on the return of

the ship to a British port, be met by an allegation of a change of

ownership, which defeats his right of proceeding at all if he has no

maritime lien; whereas if he has a maritime lien he can still proceed

against the ship and recover his claim, if he has not been guilty of

laches.

A convenient division of the special liens other than possessory on

ships may be made by classifying them as maritime, statutory-maritime

or quasi-maritime, and statutory. The first attach only in the case of

damage done by collision between ships on the high seas, salvage on

the high seas, bottomry and seamen's wages so far as freight has been

earned; the second attach in cases of damage by collision within the

body of a county, salvage within the body of a county, life salvage

everywhere, seamen's wages even if no freight has been earned,

master's wages and disbursements. These two classes continue to attach

notwithstanding a change of ownership without notice of the lien, if

there have been no laches in enforcing it (the "_Bold Buccleuch_,"

1852, 7 Moo. P.C. 267; the "_Kong Magnus_," 1891, P. 223). The third

class, which only give a right to proceed _in rem_, i.e. against the

ship itself, attach, so long as there is no _bona fide_ change of

ownership, without citing the owners, in all cases of claims for

damage to ship and of claims for damage to cargo where no owner is

domiciled in England or Wales. Irrespective of this limitation, they

attach in all cases not only of damage to cargo, but also of breaches

of contract to carry where the damage does not exceed £300, when the

suit must be commenced in a county court having admiralty

jurisdiction; and in cases of claims for necessaries supplied

elsewhere than in the ship's home port, for wages earned even under a

special contract by masters and mariners, and of claims for towage. In

all three classes the lien also exists over cargo where the suit from

its nature extends to it, as in salvage and in some cases of bottomry

or respondentia, and in cases where proceedings are taken against

cargo by the shipowner for a breach of contract (cargo _ex_ "_Argos_"

and the "_Hewsons_," 1873, L.R. 5 P.C. 134; the "_Alina_," 1880, 5 Ex.

D. 227).

Elsewhere than in England, and those countries such as the United

States which have adopted her jurisprudence in maritime matters

generally, the doctrine of maritime lien, or that which is substituted

for it, is very differently treated. Speaking generally, those states

which have adopted the Napoleonic codes or modifications of

them--France, Italy, Spain, Holland, Portugal, Belgium, Greece,

Turkey, and to some extent Russia--have instead of a maritime lien the

civil-law principle of privileged debts. Amongst these in all cases

are found claims for salvage, wages, bottomry under certain

restrictions, and necessaries. Each of these has a privileged claim

against the ship, and in some cases against freight and cargo as well,

but it is a matter of very great importance that, except in Belgium, a

claim for collision damage (which as we have seen confers a maritime

lien, and one of a very high order, in Great Britain) confers no

privilege against the wrong-doing ship, whilst in all these countries

an owner can get rid of his personal liability by abandoning the ship

and freight to his creditor, and so, if the ship is sunk, escape all

liability whilst retaining any insurance there may be. This, indeed,

was at one time the law of Great Britain; the measure of damage was

limited by the value of the _res_; and in the United States at the

present time a shipowner can get rid of his liability for damage by

abandoning the ship and freight. A different rule prevails in Germany

and the Scandinavian states. There claims relating to the ship, unless

the owner has specially rendered himself liable, confer no personal

claim at all against him. The claim is limited _ab initio_ to ship and

freight, except in the case of seamen's wages, which do confer a

personal claim so far as they have been earned on a voyage or passage

completed prior to the loss of the ship. In all maritime states,

however, except Spain, a provisional arrest of the ship is allowed,

and thus between the privilege accorded to the debt and the power to

arrest till bail is given or the ship abandoned to creditors, a

condition of things analogous to the maritime lien is established;

especially as these claims when the proper legal steps have been taken

to render them valid--usually by endorsement on the ship's papers on

board, or by registration at her port of registry--attach to the ship

and follow her into the hands of a purchaser. They are in fact notice

to him of the incumbrance.

_Duration of Lien._--So long as the party claiming the lien at common

law retains the property, the lien continues, notwithstanding the debt

in respect of which it is claimed becoming barred by the Statute of

Limitations (_Higgins_ v. _Scott_, 1831, 2 B. & Ald. 413). But if he

takes proceedings at law to recover the debt, and on a sale of the goods

to satisfy the judgment purchases them himself, he so alters the nature

of the possession that he loses his lien (_Jacobs_ v. _Latour_, 5 Bing.

130). An equitable lien probably in all cases continues, provided the

purchaser of the subject matter has notice of the lien at the time of

his purchase. A maritime lien is in no respect subject to the Statute of

Limitations, and continues in force notwithstanding a change in the

ownership of the property without notice, and is only terminated when it

has once attached, by laches on the part of the person claiming it (the

"_Kong Magnus_," 1891, P. 223). There is an exception in the case of

seamen's wages, where by 4 Anne c. 16 (_Stat. Rev._ 4 & 5 Anne c. 3) all

suits for seamen's wages in the Admiralty must be brought within six

years.

_Ranking of Maritime Liens._--There may be several claimants holding

maritime and other liens on the same vessel. For example, a foreign

vessel comes into collision by her own fault and is damaged and her

cargo also; she is assisted into port by salvors and ultimately under a

towage agreement, and put into the hands of a shipwright who does

necessary repairs. The innocent party to the collision has a maritime

lien for his damage, and the seamen for their wages; the cargo owner has

a suit _in rem_ or a statutory lien for damage, and the shipwright a

possessory lien for the value of his repairs, while the tugs certainly

have a right _in rem_ and possibly a maritime lien also in the nature of

salvage. The value of the property may be insufficient to pay all

claims, and it becomes a matter of great consequence to settle whether

any, and if so which, have priority over the others, or whether all rank

alike and have to divide the proceeds of the property _pro ratâ_ amongst

them. The following general rules apply: liens for benefits conferred

rank against the fund in the inverse, and those for the reparation of

damage sustained in the direct order of their attaching to the _res_; as

between the two classes those last mentioned rank before those first

mentioned of earlier date; as between liens of the same class and the

same date, the first claimant has priority over others who have not

taken action. The courts of admiralty, however, allow equitable

considerations, and enter into the question of marshalling assets. For

example, if one claimant has a lien on two funds, or an effective right

of action in addition to his lien, and another claimant has only a lien

upon one fund, the first claimant will be obliged to exhaust his second

remedy before coming into competition with the second. As regards

possessory liens, the shipwright takes the ship as she stands, i.e. with

her incumbrances, and it appears that the lien for seaman's wages takes

precedence of a solicitor's lien for costs, under a charging order made

in pursuance of the Solicitors Act 1860, § 28.

Subject to equitable considerations, the true principle appears to be

that services rendered under an actual or implied contract, which

confer a maritime lien, make the holder of the lien in some sort a

proprietor of the vessel, and therefore liable for damage done by

her--hence the priority of the damage lien--but, directly it has

attached, benefits conferred on the property by enabling it to reach

port in safety benefit the holder of the damage lien in common with

all other prior holders of maritime liens. It is less easy to see why

of two damage liens the earlier should take precedence of the later,

except on the principle that the _res_ which came into collision the

second time is depreciated in value by the amount of the existing lien

upon her for the first collision, and where there was more than one

damage lien, and also liens for benefits conferred prior to the first

collision between the two collisions and subsequent to the second, the

court would have to make a special order to meet the peculiar

circumstances. The claim of a mortgagee naturally is deferred to all

maritime liens, whether they are for benefits conferred on the

property in which he is interested or for damage done by it, and also

for the same reason to the possessory lien of the shipwright, but both

the possessory lien of the shipwright and the claim of the mortgagee

take precedence over a claim for necessaries, which only confers a

statutory lien or a right to proceed _in rem_ in certain cases. In

other maritime states possessing codes of commercial law, the

privileged debts are all set out in order of priority in these codes,

though, as has been already pointed out, the lien for damage by

collision--the most important in English law--has no counterpart in

most of the foreign codes.

_Stoppage in Transitu._--This is a lien held by an unpaid vendor in

certain cases over goods sold after they have passed out of his actual

possession. It has been much discussed whether it is an equitable or

common-law right or lien. The fact appears to be that it has always been

a part of the Law Merchant, which, properly speaking, is itself a part

of the common law of England unless inconsistent with it. This

particular right was, in the first instance, held by a court of equity

to be equitable and not contrary to English law, and by that decision

this particular part of the Law Merchant was approved and became part of

the common law of England (see per Lord Abinger in _Gibson_ v.

_Carruthers_, 8 M. & W., p. 336 et seq.). It may be described as a lien

by the Law Merchant, decided by equity to be part of the common law, but

in its nature partaking rather of the character of an equitable lien

than one at common law. "It is a right which arises solely upon the

insolvency of the buyer, and is based on the plain reason of justice and

equity that one man's goods shall not be applied to the payment of

another man's debts. If, therefore, after the vendor has delivered the

goods out of his own possession and put them in the hands of a carrier

for delivery to the buyer, he discovers that the buyer is insolvent, he

may re-take the goods if he can before they reach the buyer's

possession, and thus avoid having his property applied to paying debts

due by the buyer to other people" (_Benjamin on Sales_, 2nd ed., 289).

This right, though only recognized by English law in 1690, is highly

favoured by the courts on account of its intrinsic justice, and extends

to quasi-vendors, or persons in the same position, such as consignors

who have bought on behalf of a principal and forwarded the goods. It is,

however, defeated by a lawful transfer of the document of title to the

goods by the vendor to a third person, who takes it _bonâ fide_ and for

valuable consideration (Factors Act 1889; Sale of Goods Act 1893).

_Assignment or Transfer of Lien._--A lien being a personal right

acquired in respect of personal services, it cannot, as a rule, be

assigned or transferred; but here again there are exceptions. The

personal representative of the holder of a possessory lien on his

decease would probably in all cases be held entitled to it; and it has

been held that the lien over a client's papers remains with the firm of

solicitors notwithstanding changes in the constitution of the firm

(_Gregory_ v. _Cresswell_, 14 L.J. Ch. 300). So also where a solicitor,

having a lien on documents for his costs, assigned the debt to his

bankers with the benefit of the lien, it was held that the bankers might

enforce such lien in equity. But though a tradesman has a lien on the

property of his customer for his charges for work done upon it, where

the property is delivered to him by a servant acting within the scope of

his employment, such lien cannot be transferred to the servant, even if

he has paid the money himself; and the lien does not exist at all if the

servant was acting without authority in delivering the goods, except

where (as in the case of a common carrier) he is bound to receive the

goods, in which case he retains his lien for the carriage against the

rightful owner. Where, however, there is a lien on property of any sort

not in possession, a person acquiring the property with knowledge of the

lien takes it subject to such lien. This applies to equitable liens, and

cannot apply to those common-law liens in which possession is necessary.

It is, however, true that by statute certain common-law liens can be

transferred, e.g. under the Merchant Shipping Act a master of a ship

having a lien upon cargo for his freight can transfer the possession of

the cargo to a wharfinger, and with it the lien (Merchant Shipping Act

1894, § 494). In this case, however, though the matter is simplified by

the statute, if the wharfinger was constituted the agent or servant of

the shipmaster, his possession would be the possession of the

shipmaster, and there would be no real transfer of the lien; therefore

the common-law doctrine is not altered, only greater facilities for the

furtherance of trade are given by the statute, enabling the wharfinger

to act in his own name without reference to his principal, who may be at

the other side of the world. So also a lien may be retained,

notwithstanding that the property passes out of possession, where it has

to be deposited in some special place (such as the Custom-House) to

comply with the law. Seamen cannot sell or assign or in any way part

with their maritime lien for wages (Merchant Shipping Act 1894, § 156),

but, nevertheless, with the sanction of the court, a person who pays

seamen their wages is entitled to stand in their place and exercise

their rights (the _Cornelia Henrietta_, 1866, L.R. 1 Ad. & Ec. 51).

_Waiver._--Any parting with the possession of goods is in general a

waiver of the lien upon them; for example, when a factor having a lien

on the goods of his principal gives them to a carrier to be carried at

the expense of his principal, even if undisclosed, he waives his lien,

and has no right to stop the goods _in transitu_ to recover it; so also

where a coach-builder who has a lien on a carriage for repairs allows

the owner from time to time to take it out for use without expressly

reserving his lien, he has waived it, nor has he a lien for the standage

of the carriage except by express agreement, as mere standage does not

give a possessory lien. It has even been held that where a portion of

goods sold as a whole for a lump sum has been taken away and paid for

proportionately, the conversion has taken place and the lien for the

residue of the unpaid purchase-money has gone (_Gurr_ v. _Cuthbert_,

1843, 12 L.J. Ex. 309). Again, an acceptance of security for a debt is

inconsistent with the existence of a lien, as it substitutes the credit

of the owner for the material guarantee of the thing itself, and so acts

as a waiver of the lien. For the same reason even an agreement to take

security is a waiver of the lien, though the security is not, in fact,

given (_Alliance Bank_ v. _Broon_, 11 L.T. 332).

_Sale of Goods under Lien._--At common law the lien only gives a right

to retain the goods, and ultimately to sell by legal process, against

the owner; but in certain cases a right has been given by statute to

sell without the intervention of legal process, such as the right of an

innkeeper to sell the goods of his customer for his unpaid account

(Innkeepers Act 1878, § 1), the right of a wharfinger to sell goods

entrusted to him by a shipowner with a lien upon them for freight, and

also for their own charges (Merchant Shipping Act 1894, §§ 497, 498),

and of a railway company to sell goods for their charges (Railway

Clauses Act 1845, § 97). Property affected by an equitable lien or a

maritime lien cannot be sold by the holder of the lien without the

interposition of the court to enforce an order, or judgment of the

court. In Admiralty cases, where a sale is necessary, no bail having

been given and the property being under arrest, the sale is usually made

by the marshal in London, but may be elsewhere on the parties concerned

showing that a better price is likely to be obtained.

AMERICAN LAW.--In the United States, speaking very generally, the law

relating to liens is that of England, but there are some considerable

differences occasioned by three principal causes. (1) Some of the

Southern States, notably Louisiana, have never adopted the common law of

England. When that state became one of the United States of North

America it had (and still preserves) its own system of law. In this

respect the law is practically identical with the Code Napoleon, which,

again speaking generally, substitutes privileges for liens, i.e. gives

certain claims a prior right to others against particular property.

These privileges being _strictissimae interpretationis_, cannot be

extended by any principle analogous to the English doctrine of equitable

liens. (2) Probably in consequence of the United States and the several

states composing it having had a more democratic government than Great

Britain, in their earlier years at all events, certain liens have been

created by statute in several states in the interest of the working

classes which have no parallel in Great Britain, e.g. in some states

workmen employed in building a house or a ship have a lien upon the

building or structure itself for their unpaid wages. This statutory lien

partakes rather of the nature of an equitable than of a common-law lien,

as the property is not in the possession of the workman, and it may be

doubted whether the right thus conferred is more beneficial to the

workman than the priority his wages have in bankruptcy proceedings in

England. Some of the states have also practically extended the maritime

lien to matters over which it was never contended for in England. (3) By

the constitution of the United States the admiralty and inter-state

jurisdiction is vested in the federal as distinguished from the state

courts, and these federal courts have not been liable to have their

jurisdiction curtailed by prohibition from courts of common law, as the

court of admiralty had in England up to the time of the Judicature Acts;

consequently the maritime lien in the United States extends further than

it does in England, even after recent enlargements; it covers claims for

necessaries and by material men (see _Maritime Lien_), as well as

collision, salvage, wages, bottomry and damage to cargo.

Difficulties connected with lien occasionally arise in the federal

courts in admiralty cases, from a conflict on the subject between the

municipal law of the state where the court happens to sit and the

admiralty law; but as there is no power to prohibit the federal court,

its view of the admiralty law based on the civil law prevails. More

serious difficulties arise where a federal court has to try inter-state

questions, where the two states have different laws on the subject of

lien; one for example, like Louisiana, following the civil law, and the

other the common law and equitable practice of Great Britain. The

question as to which law is to govern in such a case can hardly be said

to be decided. "The question whether equitable liens can exist to be

enforced in Louisiana by the federal courts, notwithstanding its

restrictive law of privileges, is still an open one" (Derris,

_Contracts of Pledge_, 517; and see _Burdon Sugar Refining Co._ v.

_Payne_, 167 U.S. 127).

BRITISH COLONIES.--In those colonies which before the Canadian

federation were known as Upper Canada and the Maritime Provinces of

British North America, and in the several Australasian states where the

English common law is enforced except as modified by colonial statute,

the principles of lien, whether by common law or equitable or maritime,

discussed above with reference to England, will prevail; but questions

not dissimilar to those treated of in reference to the United States may

arise where colonies have come to the crown of Great Britain by cession,

and where different systems of municipal law are enforced. For example,

in Lower Canada the law of France prior to the Revolution occupies the

place of the common law in England, but is generally regulated by a code

very similar to the Code Napoleon; in Mauritius and its dependencies the

Code Napoleon itself is in force except so far as modified by subsequent

ordinances. In South Africa, and to some extent in Ceylon and Guiana,

Roman-Dutch law is in force; in the island of Trinidad old Spanish law,

prior to the introduction of the present civil code of Spain, is the

basis of jurisprudence. Each several system of law requires to be

studied on the point; but, speaking generally, apart from the possessory

lien of workmen and the maritime lien of the vice-admiralty courts, it

may be assumed that the rules of the civil law, giving a privilege or

priority in certain specified cases rather than a lien as understood in

English law, prevail in those colonies where the English law is not in

force. (F. W. Ra.)