lien of judgment

A judgment is in effect what it is defined to be in theory, 'the sentence of the law given in a court of law.' The lien of a judgment is a quality added to it,—a quality not in any manner altering it as the sentence of the court, but superadded to it, taking effect on property, qualifying property, restraining the alienation of property; not by an act of appropriation and sale under an execution, (which come under the denomination of 'proceedings,' and are subsequent to the judgment,) but as the effect of the mere existence of the judgment.