ſiſted of privy counſellors, were diſſolved; and it was declared illegal for them to take cognizance of any matter of property, belonging to the ſubjects of this kingdom. But, in plantation or admiralty cauſes, which ariſe out of the juriſdiction of this kingdom; and in matters of lunacy and idiocy[1], being a ſpecial flower of the prerogative; with regard to theſe, although they may eventually involve queſtions of extenſive property, the privy council continues to have cognizance, being the court of appeal in ſuch cauſes: or, rather, the appeal lies to the king’s majeſty himſelf in council. Whenever alſo a queſtion ariſes between two provinces in America or elſewhere, as concerning the extent of their charters and the like, the king in his council exerciſes original juriſdiction therein, upon the principles of feodal ſovereignty. And ſo likewiſe when any perſon claims an iſland or a province, in the nature of a feodal principality, by grant from the king or his ancestors, the determination of that right belongs to his majeſty in council: as was the caſe of the earl of Derby with regard to the iſle of Man in the reign of queen Elizabeth, and of the earl of Cardigan and others, as repreſentatives of the duke of Montague, with relation to the iſland of St Vincent in 1764. But from all the dominions of the crown, excepting Great Britain and Ireland, an appellate juriſdiction (in the laſt reſort) is veſted in the ſame tribunal; which uſually exerciſes it’s judicial authority in a committee of the whole privy council, who hear the allegations and proofs, and make their report to his majeſty in council, by whom the judgment is finally given.
As to the qualifications of members to ſit at this board: any natural born ſubject of England is capable of being a member of the privy council; taking the proper oaths for ſecurity of the government, and the teſt for ſecurity of the church. But, in order to prevent any perſons under foreign attachments from inſinuating themſelves into this important truſt, as happened in the reign of king William in many inſtances, it is enacted by the act of ſettlement[2], that no perſon born out of the dominions of the crown
