Argument of William H. Seward, in defence of Abel F. Fitch and others, under an indictment for arson, delivered at Detroit, on the 12th, 13th and 15th days of September, 1851.: Phonographically reported by T. C. Leland.

13
phemia Coy on a point which was irrelevant and trivial, to wit, the alleged assistance
rendered toAmandain preparing her testimony by her mother. That mother has
appeared here and hlas been offered to sustain her daughter's denial of such assistance.
Gentlemen, you have - heard Amanda Fitch's recital confirmed as it is by Delamater
and,Carmer, at.d by the scarcely less than martyrdom of Lacock. Weigh it against
the testimony of Wells and Caswell, impeached as they stand by self contradictions. Th-ere is perjury on one side or on the other. It is for you to decide wlhether it is
on the part of the informers who sustain this prosecution, or on the part of this
child. It grew into a proverb in ancient Rome, that iii seasons of public confusion a citizen could not be quietly undone, nor could his family escape from being involved in his
ruin. The dlefendant Fiitch has been hurled from ilis estate into his grave. His wife,when
she appeared upon the stand a lawful witness to redeem his name from reproiell,hlias been
refusel a htaring, because she had become a widow too late. Oomplcte if:ou will
and if oni can this domestic desolation, by stamping the brand of perjury upon the brow
of that cherished orphan child; but remember, before you do so, that you and I among
those various excursions which have relieved the weariness of this protracted trial,
once visited together the state prison of Michigan, and that we found there one hundred
and fifty malefactors all of whom were men, and that within those dreary walls there was
found not one woman.
Thus, there are seventeen overt acts attended by circumstantial explanatio ns, to wit: One-Breaking of a hand car by Filley alone, rejected as a trivial,
per onal and unpremeditated transaction: One obstruction by a mud-sill,
ands by strap iron, charged against the defendant Terrill alone, insufficiently
prov ed, and trivial if proved: One like charge against Dr. Farnhtnm, rejected as,
both trivial and false: One, burning of a culvert, rejected because'the evidence is
insufficient and contradictory: One'bu.ring of a pile of lumber, an act of person.
al retaliation by one of the defendants alone: One attempt to obstruct-the cars,
by placing a spindle in a switch, in which only one defendant,was concerned: One
throwing the engine "Rocket" from the trk -which was Corwin's individual act:
One design by Corwin to detach the freight cars, proceeding from sudden iDpatt,,
and not carried into exou,tic::.One obstruction of th e c, wast -of the switch,
by Filley and Wolevar, without concert with any 6ther defendants: One braking
of a lamp, and obstruction of the ears, by a mud-sill, the act of Filley, without
concert with other defendants: One alledged assault of the cars with stones, at
the ball at Leoni. actually disproved: Two assaults of alike kind, by the Prices,
Corwin and Wolevar. aets'unpremeditated,'and without concert: One, throwing
off the "Goliah," the act of Corwin alone: One burning of a wood-pile by
Corwin and Price, to cover a larcency for the benefit of Corwin alone: One, throwing off of the" Gazelle" by Filley and the Prices, without the knowledge of the
other defendants; and the exaggerated pistol scene at Fiteh's house, disproved
and rejected. Among these transactions, Filley is compromised in four distinct
cases; Corwin in six, and the two Prices in three. No other defendants were connected with them by actual co-operation, no one case of preconcert by anyv other
defenidant with the aggressors has been established, not one instance of guilty
knowledge by any of the other defendants has been proved, nor has a case occurred amo!g themn al, of an aggression committed in pursuance of a previous design
or plan for ned or projected even by the defendants who committed it. You will
readily agree tihat if a conspiracy such as is alledged by the prosecution did exist,
WoJevatr, Gaswell aid Sherman were guilty parties in it; yet vou see at once that,
althougil yoll could convect them of so many crimes comi, itted, bv their own confession. yon could no, for a momenit uphold an indictment againist them charging a
previous eo?,-spiracy to commit the acts which they have confessed. They canones
be innocent of such a conspiracy and leave the defendants guilty; the defendants
cannot be guilty of a conspiracy if these witnesses are innocent of it. The ovet t act
then whicht hlve been given inevidence- neither Iprove,nor tend to prove,the existence
of the alleged conspiracy. Let nie not be misunderstood in regard to them. Not;
only do I rejoice that no human life has been lost nor limb broken, but I condemn
these outrages as atrocious, cruel and inhuman. i Their only alleviation is that they
proceeded from passion, and passion, in individual men dark and stumbling, is blind