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.

v....1: _:-./...could
aSrt'S greatly egoedii;the ability of th aleged contributors Such a,sumi Cub'
not have been raised by Fitch and hiis supposed associates, without the use tbf i'Pra
with io6rtgages on pe nali and reaL state, -notes with endorsements and the orali'
tion of discount which would have left ttaeets that would have: etrayed the:t ouid
action in:Leoni, and in other -towns -nd cities,,where the loahn 4discount h ah
havei been efected. Sir-! (to -Mr- White,aJui;ros-you are said' t' be rich. I
glad-of it. You could not, t,diay payme five hundredd dollars, without th6euse of a
check, or note, or bill that would draw in two, three or more witnesse of the trans action.
Again, we are required to believe that Abel F. Fitch,;having a pair of fancy cattle
that had been, or were notoriously-preparing tohbp exhibited at,the state fair, and were
even known throughout the State, authorized two incendiaries to take and drive them
away immediately on returning from Niles, after having burnied the Rail Road De pot there; and this too when the felons were to proceed to Niles, and return from that
place openly in thecars of the Rail Road Company, whose Depot was to be destroy ed, and when every agent and servant of the Railroad was known to be acting as a
spy upon his conduct by Fitch himself. The- statements-of Gay, which are sport ed, are contradictory. In December he knew the; man, who employed l him-t:o burn
the Depot, oaily by sight. In February he still knew the man only by sight. In
April, although notoriously he had not seen Fitch, nor any others of the defendants,
yet he natned snot only Fitch, but also Mount and Williams, with others of his
friends at Leoni, who had- hired him to burn the depot in December. Who does
not see that George Washington Gay would never have bured a Depot or made an
contract, without knowing his employer? Who does not:see that Abel F- Fitch,
could no more have remained uniknown in making such a contract, than you and I
Again, Gay when appealed to by Phelps in April, to tell Van Arman wvho it was
that had in fact burned the depot, replied "Do you think I am such a di-, fool as
to put myself in the power of any man?" Nevertheless, Mr. Van Armarr, who testified to thrs in May, reappears in Court in June, and remembers the fact that Gay
not only mentioned in April, that he burned the Depot, but refered to Mount and
Fitch as his employers.
Again, Gentlemen, if Gay was employed by Fitch to burn the Depot in November, and received the match from him before the fire, and the money, one hundred
and fifty dollars, immediately afterwards, these transactions must have occurred
somewhere. There must have been a meeting between him and Fitch at some time,
and in some place, either in Detroit, in Jackson County, or somewhere else. Such
a meeting could have been proved, if it had ever taken place. When Gay and
Fitch gave Phelps their unreserved confidence and stated these transactions freely,
why did not one or both of them state where and when that meeting occurred?Fitch was widely known, and if we are to believe the evidence, was vehemently
suspected. - Gay was equally notorious and infamous. The absence of Fitch from
home, to attend such a meeting, if not his presence in Detroit, could have been
proved. There must have been travel by either Fitch and Gay, or by one of them
on the Rail Road. Spies were all summer long waylaying every step of: Fitch.The police were always on the heels of Gay. Or there must have been travel by
one or both of them on foot, or in some carriage, upon a common road. Such a
m-ode of travel would have increased the time spent, and would have in itself been
suspicious, and, of course, would thus have directly increased the chances of exposure. -So it appears, that Fitch never came to Detroit; nor was Gay at:Michigan
Centre; nor did one ever leave his home, to meet the other elsewhere. Was the
negotiation conducted by correspondence? - Then it must have beenn by Post, or by
Private messengers. The Post" keeps records of letters, althongh not of teir con
tona...Messengers could not paos unobserved. J The homes of Fitch and:aay have
.-endered-up all their se,cre. t the police, three times over.,No'suhc/k6respond.ce:h foun - artoviwaed gaist c4editl=n.the ni/rative, in
*-ue,:eryhbt, of.thecW-,Whe lgs > autiatr' in f io wre tervlei'" ith: Gay, he
applied to him to- know or he could clear Van Sickle, ahd.Gay replied; w'e can do
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