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.

ed. The counsel for the People felt or seemed to feel great surprise at his wicked
temerity, but let me tell them and you that in recoiling with so much horror from
that silly fool, John Hawley, and in accepting the testimony of Gay, Phelps, and
Lake, and in pressing conviction upon it after the exposures which have been made
here, they have "strained" at a gnat while they have "swallowed" some very large
camels.
I am to prove to you the malice of Phelps against Abel F. Fitch. Ulysses T
Foster testifies that in the State Prison in 1849, Phelps (pointing to Fitch, who was
passing by) said "he is the means of my being here. I will have revenge or satisfaction." Calvin Beebee says that ill April, 1849, when he announced to Phelps that
a pardon had been granted to him, he replied, "I am in the prison through the influence of Abel F. Fitch and others. If I live to get out l'll make them smart for
it and give them the same feed they have given me." Wm. B. Laycock says that
on the night in January last, when Phelps and his wife were sleeping in his bed, he
heard her ask him whether he was going to see Fitch the next day, and whether he
thought he could do as he had talked of doing. Phelps replied he should go and
see Fitch and if Wescott would do as e agreed and stick by him, he thought he would
wome a good drive. The same witness further testifies, that, Phelps in returning
from Michigan Centre the next day, after having pretended a desire to purchase
Fitch's oxen, said he "would have Fitch in the limbo," and when asked why, as
signed the poor reason that Fitch had refused to sell him his twin cattle. Mrs.
Phelps contradicts Laycock as to the first of these statements, but what is the
value of her testimony? Is her stake in this prosecution less than her-husband's?
What is her independence? I will not trespass upon the charities due to a woman
and a wife, by raising a question whether she knew the dangerous ways to which
he had addicted himself. She had a sick infant in her arms, and may well have forgotten a remark, the full effect which she did not comprehend. I can exouse
her for error if she commits it on the ground of her fidelity to her unfortunate
husband She is not the first woman who has said,
"' I ask not, I care not if guilt's in that heart,
I know that I love thee, whatever thou art."
But if you must give full effect to the evidence of Mrs. Phelps, still it leaves tbe
testimony of three witnesses who give proof of profound malice and are unopposed.
Gentlemen, you will next recall the deportment of the witness Phelps, during
the trial. There is a living and beautiful harmony in all truth. He that is truth.
ful to-day was truthful yesterday, and will be truthful always. Candor, modesty,
meekness and gentleness, are inseparable from truthfulness. Recall the eagerness
of the witness to volunteer testimony injurious to the defendants, by interpolating
his answers with matter foreign to the question propounded. I give you only one
instance of this. On cross examination he was asked if he had seen Gay have
counterfeit money, he replied, "yes, $50, and he said he got it of Fitch." Recall
the scene when he impudently confronted Wm. Dyer, who was a respectable citizen of Indiana, and roused all the vulgar sympathies around him, here in open
court, falsely charging that respectable person with being a horse-thief in disguise.
Recall the fact oftPhelps appearing in the court-room, with his coat defaced by a pretended mark of a ball which he alleged had been fired at him on Woodward avenue, in the streets of Detroit, in the night time. What could he have been doing in
that quarter of the town at such an hour? Do you believe that these defendants
assailed him at that distance from the windows of their prison? Do you believe
that sympathising friends who followed them here attempted his assassination? If
so what has secured him against assassination since that time, now nearly three
months? Recall his bar-room denunciations of Amanda Fitch for perjury, and his
rude affray with J. B. Toll, her defender. Recall his charge on the stand that Mr.
Frink had disguised himself to procure or instigate his assassination. Recall his
impudent intrusion upon you in your journies to Michigan Centre, when yole
went to survey the scenes described in the testimony, and to test his own veracity
Recall his still more impudent intrusion upon the presence of one of the pannel in
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