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.

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ation that the " road ought to be torn up till they paid for the cattle, and then they wold
go along peaceably;" so also Freeland's remark, "that a plan could be laid to
blow up the Railroad, by placing powder under the rails;" and a remark imputed by
Dexter to Fitch, to wit: " on one occasion, when the cars run off, he said he wished it had
injured them more;" ud his declaration proved by Knickerbocker, " that the Judges of
courts could be brought under the influence of the Company, and there was no redress
for the poor man, and that the Company was an aristocracy and a monopoly." These
and other kindred expressions, abounding in the cate, are intemperate,'but casual
utterance of individual exasperation, made in public places and on public occasions,
under circumstances totally inconsistent with an idea of a connected plot, or organized conspiracy. They are evidently, dissevered, disjointed parts of popular debates
of which can no more be gathered from the dismembered sentences, than the system of
the theology of the Bible from cross-readings in the Concordance. Discussion of the
wisdom and impartiality of Judges is not interdicted by the Constitution, and error ia
that respect, like error on' other political subjects, may be safely tolerated, where "Reason is left free to combat if,"
A word only will be bestowed upon the testimony of Wm. Dobbs, who gravely tells uthat " Williams offered him five hundred dollars to burn the May Flower and thi At
steamboats, and that Williams said Fitch, Filly and Champlin would be his backers,
Dobbs was a city runner and bully, who was rusticating in the country; Williams, a
village mechanic, given to occasional intoxication, especially when visited by such worthies from the Capital. He probably was not worth at that time five hundred cents.
He may have magnified himself and his relations with Fitch, Filly and Champlin, in saying they would be his endorsers; but if such conversation occurred at all, it was in some
bar-room revel, as an interlude between those interesting "fight s," in which he and Dobbs
knocked other each down, by way of settling the important dispute whether a gold dollar
was larger than a five cent piece.
Mark English contributes, in aid of the prosecution, a statement that Fitch in September, 1849, said, "We have laid a plan to fix the road in such a shape that the Company
will be unable to find an engineer to run on the road," when I asked the reason, English
adds," he said they would not be willing to run the risk of their lives-that it would not
answer for Brooks to go over the road." English was a laboring man, employed by Fitch
for a short period. Ignorant of the force of the terms used, he gives, doubtlessly, the
designation of "plan" to speculations in which Fitch may have indulged concelLiug the
condition of questions then agitating the public mind; and this, probably, involuntary
error is all that gives his testimony any effect.
Charles Rogers says he worked two days in harvest for Fitch in 1849; that he heard
"Filly speak of a piece of timber to be placed in a culvert, so as to be di-awn by a rope after the hand-car had passed; aod he heard Fitch speak of percussion caps, and of a
machine to throw the cars off in the right place, and then be removed and saved to be
used at some other time; that he heard Fitch say he was willing to turn out with his
team, and tear up the track, 6ut didn't say how far he would tear it up I What an
unfortunate forgetfulness! Fitch must have assigned limits-at his garden wall, at the end
of his orchard, or deer park, or at the high embankment, or at Dexter, or at Ann Arbor, orat the gates of Detroit, or on the banks of the river; out conscientious Charles
Rogers forgets them.
In regard to these two last witnesses, it is only necessary to recall the remark before
made-that testimony consisting of detached sentences, severed from long and probably
frequent conversations, without explanation how those conversations arose, to what they
related, what were the points involved, and what the conclusions arrived at, is utterly val.
ueless. It is simply incredible that Fitch should have bestowed just this amouat of confidence and no more, and no less, upon a!aboring man during two days in the harvest
field. The testimony disproves itself by its absurdity. The machinerv to bc applied to
draw timbers upon the road, after the passage of the hand-ear, is quite too clumsy; the
use of powder and percussion caps quite too artistical, while the idea of tie portable
engines for throwing the cars from the track savors quite too much of frugality. The
counsel for the people, alledge that Charles Rogers is a man of unquestionable veracity,
Their standard of veracity accommodates even Wescott. Adopting that standard, I think
Rodgers excel, Westcott in fertility of invention.
A large portion of the evidence consists of threats alleged to have been made by the
defendants against spies, of which 1 shall produce a few samples only, by way of ills
tration, viz: Fitch's alleged warning against spies; his supposed attempt to soothe and
pacify Woliver, when he was leaving Filley; Corwin's expressions of solicitude on thay