I forgot to add that James Wilson is *THE GUY* who brought up Vattel in the Pennsylvania Debates on Ratifying the US Constitution. (Also, Later Supreme Court Justice Jasper Yates (from Samuel Roberts book) was there also.)
THE DEBATES IN THE CONVENTION OF THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA, ON THE ADOPTION OF THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION.
PHILADELPHIA, TUESDAY, November 20, 1787, P. M.
For the city of Philadelphia, George Latimer, Benjamin Rush, Hilary Baker, James Wilson, Thos. M'Kean.
For Lancaster county. Stephen Chambers, Robert Coleman, Sebastian Graff, John Hubley, Jasper Yeates, John Whitehill.
TUESDAY, December 4, 1787, A. M.
— Mr. WILSON. ...
A good deal has already been said concerning a bill of rights. I have stated, according to the best of my recollection, all that passed in Convention relating to that business. Since that time, I have spoken with a gentleman, who has not only his memory, but full notes that he had taken in that body, and he assures me that, upon this subject, no direct motion was ever made at all; and certainly, before we heard this so violently supported out of doors, some pains ought to have been taken to have tried its fate within; but the truth is, a bill of rights would, as I have mentioned already, have been not only unnecessary, but improper. In some governments, it may come within the gentleman's idea, when he says it can do no harm; but even in these governments, you find bills of rights do not uniformly obtain; and do those states complain who have them not? Is it a maxim in forming governments, that not only all the powers which are given, but also that all those which are reserved, should be enumerated? I apprehend that the powers given and reserved form the whole rights of the people, as men and as citizens. I consider that there are very few who understand the whole of these rights. All the political writers, from Grotius and Puffendorf down to Vattel, have treated on this subject; but in no one of those books, nor in the aggregate of them all, can you find a complete enumeration of rights appertaining to the people as men and as citizens.
Mr. Warden to take precedence of all the other Consuls whose commissions are older than his, has created himself Consul General and charge' d'affaires of the United States. All the Americans are enraged and have joined in a letter to the Duke of Bassano on the subject in which they say he is not an American, that he has not been regularly naturalized, and does not enjoy this confidence of the President.
Page 61
In that same meeting, Livingston further accused Skipwith of aiding a known privateer, Thomas Melville Jr., a native of Boston, Massachusetts. The Minister claimed that the consul knowingly gave Melville an imporoper certificate, giving the privateer freedom to act with the full protection of the United States Government. Skipwith believed Melville to be innocent of the charge, but...
Everything about the overall tone and structure of the letter clearly showed that Livingston fully believed Skipwith to be guilty of the charges leveled against him. In the letter, Livingston asked, "Where you chief of the Bureau of Commissions during the year five? Do you know Captain Haley? Had he a Commission and a Letter of Marque? Who handed it in? Who introduced him to you? Who recommended him? To whom was the Commission delivered when made out? "
Livingston believed that Skipwith had full knowledge of Melville's notorious reputation as a privateer and still gave him certification to sail under the protection of the United States of America.
However, with his next correspondent, Captain Haley himself, Skipwith was amply served. In his sworn testimony, Haley accused "a band of ruffians" with stirring up the controversy to bismirch Consul Skipwith's reputation, and he further added that those ruffians were in fact "English agents." 38
The consular dispatch concluded with the sworn certificate that Skipwith had then presented to Melville which gave him protection as a citizen of the United States of America. In truth, these types of certificates were merely routine responsibilites of American consular officials. In times of war, particularly with the uncertain nature of the conflict developing between France and Great Britain, shippers of all types relied on such protection for their livelihood. The consular certificates were proof that these merchants were citizens of the United States and therefore neutral in the war.
In fact, Skipwith owed his position of consul to Monroe who had appointed him provisionally to the office when Monroe represented the United States as Minister at Paris. Consequently, from their close working relationship, Monroe esteemed Skipwith "a citizen of excellent understanding, perfect integrity, and great worth."
Unfortunately no copies of letters from the United States Secretary of State to the consular representatives from June 17,1811 to January 2, 1816 are available. The Letters from that time period seem to have disappeared.
David Bailie Warden
"Deriliction of Diplomacy"