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a scriptural view of the character, causes, and ends of the present war. By alexander mcleod, d.d. (1815)
http://www.archives.upenn.edu/people/1700s/rawle_wm.html
An ardent abolitionist, Rawle became a member of the Maryland Society promoting abolition in 1792 and then its president in 1818; he also argued against the constitutionality of slavery before the state supreme court in 1805.
So he was lying in a good cause. The Vattel definition was absolutely incompatible with his goals.