It was believed that citizens only who would go hence well instructed in the views of their Government and zealous to give them effect would be competent to these duties, and that it was not the intention of the law to preclude their appointment.
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More from James Monroe
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of January 5, I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of the Navy, with copies of the proceedings of the courts-martial in the cases of Lieutenants Weaver and Conner.
To the House of Representatives: I communicate to the House of Representatives copies of sundry papers having relation to the transactions in East and West Florida, which have been received at the Department of State since my message to the two Houses of Congress of the 28th of January last, together with copies of two letters from the Secretary of State upon the same subject.
I transmit to the Senate, for its advice and consent as to the ratification, a treaty which has been concluded by a commissioner duly authorized for the purpose with the Quapaw Indians in Arkansas for the cession of their claim to the lands in that Territory.
I have thought that the United States should act with a generous spirit; that they should omit nothing which should comport with a liberal construction of the instrument and likewise be in accordance with the just rights of those tribes.





