espect to age or
sex; in the other two versions it is stated that not one of them was
massacred, but they were all permitted to cross the Susquehanna with
their effects.

4. In one of these versions, Colonel John Butler is represented as not
only the commander of the whole party of invasion, but the author of all
the cruelties perpetrated in the "massacre" of Wyoming; yet Mr.
Hildreth's statement shows the reverse--that Colonel Butler had accepted
the surrender of Fort Wyoming "upon the promise of security to life and
property;" that "desirous to fulfil these terms, he presently marched
away with his Tories; but he could not induce the Indians to follow;"
that "the depredations which followed were inflicted by the Indians
alone, and whom Colonel Butler could not command, and against his
remonstrance and example and that of his Tories."

It is therefore plain that the accounts at the time of the "Massacre of
Wyoming," published by the Congress party, were of the most exaggerated
and inflammatory character, containing the grossest misrepresentation,
and doing the greatest injustice to the leaders and conduct of the
expedition, of which accounts they had no knowledge, nor any means of
correcting them. These partial and shamefully exaggerated accounts and
misrepresentations were spread through Europe, and produced the most
unfavourable impression in regard to the "Tories" and their mixture with
the Indians--the only place of refuge for them, as they were driven from
their homes to escape the sentences of death, imprisonment, or
banishment, subject in all cases, of course, to the destruction and
confiscation of their property. The English Annual Register for 1779,
after reproducing these unjust and inflated accounts, candidly says:

"It is necessary to observe, with respect to the destruction of Wyoming,
that as no narrative of the exploits of the leaders in that transaction,
whether by authority or otherwise, has yet appeared in this country, we
can only rely for the authenticity of the facts which we have stated
upon the accounts published by the Americans.

"Happy should we deem it, for the honour of humanity that, the whole
account was demonstrated to be a fable." (Vol. IV., p. 14.)

The testimony furnished by the four versions of the transaction by
American historians shows how largely the original accounts of it were
fabulous.

Since compiling and analysing the foregoing four historical versions of
the "Massacre