By the resolution of 28 Jan. the Senate requested the president “to cause to be laid before the Senate such documents and papers, or other information, as he shall judge proper, relative to complaints against arming the merchant ships or vessels of the United States, or the conduct of the captains and crews of such as have been armed” (JS description begins Journal of the Senate of the United States, Washington, D.C., 1820-21, 5 vols. description ends , 3:442).

Isaac A. Coles delivered TJ’s message and accompanying papers to the Senate on 31 Jan. The papers were read on 1 Feb. and ordered to lie for consideration and to be printed for the Senate’s use (JS description begins Journal of the Senate of the United States, Washington, D.C., 1820-21, 5 vols. description ends , 3:444-5; see Shaw-Shoemaker description begins Ralph R. Shaw and Richard H. Shoemaker, comps., American Bibliography: A Preliminary Checklist for 1801-1819, New York, 1958-63, 22 vols. description ends , No. 9528).