" It was wisely conceived by the untaught statesman of the forest, who had no precedents to consult, no written lore of ages to refer to, no failures or triumphs of systems of human governments to use as models or comparisons, nothing to prompt them but necessity and emergency." President D wight said, " Had they enjoyed the advantages possessed by the Greeks and Romans, there is no reason to believe they would have been at all inferior to these celebrated nations." Their minds appear to have been equal to any effort within the reac^h of man. Their conquests, if we consider their numbers and circumstances, were little inferior to Rome itself. In their harmony, the unity of their operations, the energy oi their character, the vastness, vigor and success of their enterprises, and the strength and

76 NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.

sublimity of their eloquence, they may be fairly compared to the Greeks. Both the Greeks and Romans, before they began to rise into distinction, had already reached the state of society in which they were able to improve. The Iroquois had not. The Greeks and Romans had ample means for improvement. The Iroquois had none. The destruction of the confederacy was necessary to the well being of the colonists. During the Revolutionary war, harassed as they were by roving bands instigated by the tribes to massacre and burn, the Colonial government authorized the Commander-in- Chief to administer punishment for the horrible atrocities committed at Wyoming and Cherry Valley. To obtain a complete, detailed account of the manner in which it was done, one has but to read the record of Sullivan's Expedition in 1779, compiled by the Hon. George S. Conover for the Secretary of State, 1886. This remarkable undertaking by General Sullivan has been aptly compared to some of the most famous expeditions in the world's history.