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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the same week after town meeting to search for the beatle wedges at the place isdicated.,
David Beman testifies that on Frida after town meeting, that is to say, April
11th, in the morning, he was at work splitting rails in the rear of his farm out of
sight of the road. He sent his son to a knoll towards the road to see whether
cattle were not on the wheatfield. His son having stayed, as he thought, unreasonably long, Bemaal came over to the knoll, and arriving there, he saw, at a distance
of some forty rods, two men, who were unknown to him, come up in a one horse
wagon. They stopped near a Sassafras tree. One got out, took a bundle, or some.
thing else that was red out of the wagon, got over the fence, and went across Esq.
Mills' field so as to approach diagonaly the middle road leading to Michigan Centre,
passing Penfield's Sawmill. The other mali drove on in the buggy across the middle
road towards Leoni. lie saw Jesse Cozier come down that middle road with a load
of rails and pass the man in the wagon on the way towards Leoni. He identifies
the day by the payment of a dollar which he owed to a neighbor and paid on that
pay, charging his son to remember it as he was an illiterate man and kept no accounts.
Emmet Beman, the son, explains the cause of his delay in going to the wheatfield,
and says that he arrived on the hill overlooking the road and there saw two strangers come up in a one horse wagon; that one of them alighted, took a bundle in a red
handkerchief, placed it under his arm, climbed over the fence into Mills' field and
went westward. The other man with the wagon and the iron-gray horse proceeded
north towards Leoni across the middle road, and the witness saw Cozier with his
load of rails, and saw the one horse wagon pass him on its way to Leoni. He himself soon after took a load of rails to Leoni, sold them to Toll, procured a dollar, and
paid it to his father's creditor, and he identified the day as the same when he saw the
court and parties in the lawsuit between Freeland and Taylor. Jesse Cozier swears
that on the same day Phelps passed him at the point indicated on the Napoleon road
and was alone, and this was north of the place where the middle road crossed the
Leoni road.
Thus we have these two witnesses, Phelps and Lake, separate and apart, Phelps
in the wagon going northard towards Leoni, Lake going westward through the fields
on foot with a red bundle. W,e now follow Phelps on his winding way.
Mrs. I. D. Toll, the wife of Isaac D. Toll, lives in Leoni in the house on the southwest corner made by the intersection of the north road from Grass Lake to Michigan
Centre with the Napoleon road. She saw a man in a one horse wagon with an iron
grey horse come up the Napoleon road. His horse took fright anid ran with him as
he drove in. He reined him up and fastened him at the post at Cuykendall's,facing
eastward. Isaac D. Toll, the merchant, describes the same occurrence in the same
way. A. S. Luce, a Justice ofthe Peace, says that Phelps' horse took frighltin crossing
a sewer, ran around tie sign post, was reined up and fastened looking eastward. —
John Cuykendall, the cavern keeper, was standing on the step when Phelps arrived,
and describes the same occurrence inthe same way. Luce and Toll identify the
occasion as the day of the lawsuit before mentioned which was tried before Luce. —
On that same April 1 Itn FMrs. Toll left Leoni before dinner and went down to visit
Mrs. Fitch at Michigan Centre. She arrived there about 12 o'clock and then saw
the same wagon with the iron grey horse fastened to a post at Filley's tavern. 1 About
three-quarters of an hour afterwards she saw the same person now identified as
Phelps mount the wagon and drive off south across the R. R., which would bq
his route to meet Lake coming up the road passing by Penfield's mill,
You will next observe that Filley was not at home when Phelps arrived at Michigan Centre, nor when he left, nor had'Lake then arrived there. The two young
men, Allen and Kane, who came down from Jackson to Filley's for shooting, that day,
arrived. near 12 o'clock-dined in the yard while Filley dined in the house; they
say that they saw Filley, spoke with him and went with him to the pond to shoot
ducks, soon after one o'clock. They saw neithler Phelps nor Lake at Filleys. It
is manifest that Phelps arrived at Filley's.after he had gone, with Kane and Allen,
to the pond, and so that Phelps did not see Filley.!...