treasure trove (trezhurtrov)

[Early mod. E. also thresor trouve; Your honor knoweth that Thresor trouve is a very casuall thing; and of which, althowgh the Prerogative of the Queens Majestie do entitle to her a proprietie, yet how seldome her Grace hath hitherto receyved any commodity therby, it is to your honor better known than unto me. John Dee (Ellis's Lit. Letters, p. 37). treasuroust (trezh'ur-us), a. [ treasure + -ous.] Worthy of being treasured, prized, or regarded as a treasure. [Rare.] Godde full of grace, And treasurous angel t' all the human race. Chapman , tr. of Homer's Hymn to Earth, 1. 29. treasury (trezh'ur-i), n.; pl. treasuries (-iz). [ And zet is the Plate of Gold in the Thresorye of the Chirche. Mandeville , Travels, p. 18. And Jesus sat over against the treasury , and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury . Mark xii. 41. 2. Figuratively, that wherein something precious is stored or secured; a repository. O Glastonbury, Glastonbury, the treasurie of the carcases of so famous and so many persons! Hakluyt's Voyages , p. 7. Canon law as a code, and the civil law of Rome as a treasury of procedure, working together in the hands of ecclesiastical lawyers, may be for the moment looked at together. Stubbs , Medieval and Modern Hist., p. 313. treat 4. A department of government which has control over the collection, management, and expenditure of the public revenue. See Depart ment of the Treasury, under department. The duties of this department of the British government are now performed by a board of five lords commi ioners instead of a lord high treasurer, as formerly. The chief of these commi ioners, or first lord of the treasury, is usually prime minister, and may be a member of either house of Parliament. The virtual head of the treasury is the chancellor of the exchequer. (See chancellor, 3 (c).) The duties of the three remaining members of the board, the junior lords, are merely formal, the heaviest part of the ex- ecutive functions devolving on the two joint secretaries of the department (the patronage secretary and the financial secretary ), who are also members of the lower house, and on a permanent secretary. The custody of the public rev- enue is vested in the exchequer, but the function of pay- ment belongs to the treasury, consequently all sums with- drawn from the exchequer must be vouched for by a treasury warrant. The treasury has the appointment of all officers engaged in the collection of the public revenue; the army, navy, and civil-service supplies are i ued under. its authority; and all exceptional cases and disputes re- lating to the public revenue are referred to its decision. Several important state departments are under the gen- eral authority or regulation of the treasury. 5. The officers of the British treasury depart- ment.-6. A name given to a cla of subter- ranean monuments consisting usually of a solid structure of masonry, of domical form, often with pseudo-vaulting in horizontal courses, ei- ther wholly underground or covered with a tu- mulus. Familiar examples are the structures of this type at Mycenæ and at Or cho menus, in Greece. The name is er- roneo us, as these structures are now recognized as tombs. 71. Treasure. Thy sumptuous buildings and thy wife's attire Have cost a ma of public treasury . Shak., 2 Hen. VI., i. 3. 134. Independent Treasury system, or Subtreasury system, the present system of fiscal administration of the United States government, whereby certain officers, under bonds, receive disburse transfer, and account to the sec retary of the Treasury moneys of the government. Formerly the public moneys were deposited with the State banks, or, during their existence, with the first and second United States banks. In 1840 a law was enacted which directed that rooms, vaults, and safes be procured in which to keep the public money, that four receivers-general be appointed, and that the United States mint and the branch mint at New Orleans be places of deposit. The treasurers of the United States and of the mints, the receivers-general, and all other officers charged with the custody of public money, were required to give bonds for its care and transfer when ordered by the Secretary of the Treasury or Postmaster-General, and after June 30th, 1843, payments to or by the United States were to be exclusively in gold and silver. The next year the law was repealed, but in 1846 it was reënacted substantially, and has been continued ever since, with some changes. In 1863 the national banks were authorized to receive deposits of the public money, except receipts from customers, after furnishing proper security therefor. -Lords commi ioners of the Treasury. See def. 5.-Register of the Treasury. See register2.-Solicitor of the Treasury. See solicitor.Treasury bench, the front bench or row of seats on the right hand of the Speaker in the British House of Commons: so called because occupied by the first lord of the treasury (when a commoner), the chancellor of the exchequer, and other members of the ministry. - Treasury bill, an instrument of credit i ued by the British government to the highest bidder when money is needed by the Commi ioners of the Treasury. These bills are drawn for three or six months, and as they bear no interest are tendered for at a discount, which varies with the rate current in the money-market. - Treasury board, the five lords commi ioners of the British Treasury. - Treasury note, a note or bill i ued by the Treasury Department, on the authority of the government, and receivable for government dues. - Treasury warrant, a warrant or voucher i ued by the treasury for sums disbursed by the exchequer.