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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burned. Filley said the wind blew the rails into the cumver and the engine set them on
fire, and (hamplin said if they lived -there would be more of such accidents.?' But Phelpe
"peaks of the accident as having uccurred while he was gone to Niles in March,'51, and
he locates the burning culvert, not at Michigan Centre in sight of Filley's house, but at
Le6n;i four wiles distant, where it most certainly did not occur. - These contrad'tty admissions or declarations leave the transaction still more harmless than it was without
~them and certainly it is of no value in the present case.
5. A pile of lumber near the storehouse at Michigan Centre took fire during the last
summer. John H. Dexter testified that he was in his room up stairs in Filley's house;
that he heard some one come in, as he thought, barefoot, through the house,below, to.
wards Filley's bed-room; that twenty minutes afterwards, be saw the fire; that he called Filley and told him that Grant's house was on fire; and that Filley and he went out
to see, and Filley turnedround arid said "it is-only a board-kiln;- let us go back or some
of the railroad spies will see us." Wm. H. Hudson testified that he found naked footprints about the board-kiln in the morning and he thou,ght they corresponded to Filley's
foot. Hudson asked Filley if he burned the lumber. Filiey replied- "there shall be no
fence made till they settled with me for the land." Isaac Minkler says that "Fililey spoke
of the accident and said the lumber took fire, that he smiled and seemed glad of it,
I will not speak of the danger of convicting men upon snt;les and seemi'iis, and upon
inferences from indirect admissions; but will grant, for the sake of argument, thai Villey
fired the lumber which had been deposited there to build a fence, for The purpose jf obliging the Railroad Company, to pay him for the land to be fenced; and then I say that the
act was a secret misde'meanor. It was his own solitary act resulting from his own indiridual'impulse, committed for his own improper nurpose of interest or -ofrevenge, without accomplice, and without consultation or concert with any other defendant, and it therefore excludes all idea of connect;.ionl with ihe alleged conspiracy.
6. Jacob Wolevar describes an atterl)t to obstr'uct the cars near MIichian Centre in
September,'50 I and Corwi went t', Fitch's yird and got an old mill iron that was
lyw~ r.. We l!tad' the bar in tho frog or dhe sw-itch. The cars did not ruin ff. Corwinm i'-aj aning'we wil throw them off and keep them here to-night." The
next morning'itch s:- d "o mu not - _ an,thing fiori' ni S o i,a fh ey will sus
pect me Tale anything else you can Ad bt'"" -:,il iy h(,use." Cnirwin is a
defendant and if this statement is true, this trespass or-iginated'n his own sclitai,ry suggestion lio other defendant was an accomplice. It was enpreneditatell even by Cor'win and, clevar. - tos lr ow ede of it DUs: c'ou'redthen E morning and no other
defendant ever knew it until the transaction ---- -et j ui oult. u Ftch's rebl-tke is
<evidently perverted so as to imply a pleasure in such depredations; but evten's it stands,
it effectually disproves concert in the trespass, and that is all that is necessary for the
present purpose.
7. An engine, the Rocket, was thrown off at Michigan aC iet' about t'e 28tli of October
last. Shearman says, "I asked Corwin W-hat was the matter. Corwiii answered that
Spaulding had-Said to him,'Well, Bill, youhhave run us off this time,' and that Corwin added,
I'll learn old Spaulding not to insult me. We threw them off, and mean to give them hell
right along for a month. I'll let old Spauding know. there will be more done for a month
to come than there has been for a year past." The word we is dwelt upon by the prosecution,
but who does that "we" mean? Ifany body, it means, besides Corwin, Woliver and Shermnian who are not defendants; that is, for the present purpose it means Corwin alone. The
threat is Corwin's only. The "Hell" threatened im that vocabulary word, so far as it has
been explained here meant obstruction of the cars and assailing them with stones or guus
in Leoni and its vicinity and comprehended no'more. By no fair implication can it be made
.to indicate the destruction of railroad depots at distant places. The threat was passionate; turbulent, malicious, felonious, fiendish if you please, for I do not mean to palliate
'the misconduet of any of these defendants. Nevertheless it indicates no pre-concert in
any crime actually committed, nor certainly any ulterior design to commit greater crimes
lsewL.ere, but, only to prosecute similar offences at the same point of conflict.
8. We have next a baffled design to detach some cars from the freight train, near
Michigan Centre, in November, 1850, for the purpose of producing a collision between
the part detached and the incoming passenger train. Sherman says, "I went'to Terrill's
store. A freight train came along very slow, Corwin then said,'Let us cut'em off,
-and the next train that comes along will run into the cars'? We went un) to the cars to
cut'emoff. The conductor was sitting on the top. Corwin said,'G-d d-n him, let
s nochimoffwitha stone'and looked around but found nostone. rinsaid