EXCHEQUER, from the French, esche quier, i. e. abacus tabula lusori a, is a court of law and equity, established by William the Conqueror, as a part of the aula regis, though regulated and reduced to its present state by Edw. I. and intended principally to order the revenue of the crown, and to recover the Ring's debts and duties. The court consists of two divisions, viz. the receipt of the exche quer, which manages the royal revenues; and the judicial, which is again subdivid ed into a court of equity, and a court of common law. The court of equity is held in the Exchequer, before the Lord Treasurer, the Chancellor of the Exche quer, the Chief Baron, and three puisne Barons. The primary and original busi ness of this court was, to call the King's debtors to account, by bill filed by the Attorney General, and to recover any lands, tenements, or hereditaments, goods, chattels, or other profits, or bene fits, belonging to the crown ; but now, by a fiction of law, suggesting that the party is a debtor of the King, and is less able to pay his debt, unless he has the aid of the court to recover of his own debtor, any person may be admitted to sue here. An appeal from the equity side of this court lies immediately to the House of Peers ; but from the common law side, pursuant to 31 Edw. HI. c. 12,
a writ of error must first be brought into the court of exchequer chamber, whence appeal lies to the house of Lords. The exchequer, as a court of law, is the last of the courts.
In this court suits are generally brought for tythes, although the Court of Chancery also exercises considerable jurisdiction in that respect. The Exche quer is also divided into the court for ju dicial business ; and the other, the re ceipt of the Exchequer, in which the ac counts of the revenue are kept, and the money is received : in this branch of the Exchequer there are several officers ; such as two chamberlains, the controller of the pipe, the clerk of the estreats, the foreign opposer, the auditors, the four tellers, the clerk of the pells, clerk of the nichils, &c. By stat. 23 Geo. III. c. 82, the offices of the two chamberlains, tally-cutter, usher, and second clerks to each teller, shall, after the death of the present officers, be abolished ; and in stead of tallies, indented cheque receipts are to be used : also after the death of the auditor, clerks of the pells, four tel lers, and two chamberlains, their fees shall be abolished, and their salaries be fixed.