The Sun.
London, England, 1861-08-27 00:00:00

2RE CASE OF _LOVE AND FRAUD.

At the Marlborough-street, Police-court yester-
day Vincent Collncci was brought before Mr. Mans-
field for re-examination, charged with obtaining
from Miss Frederica Johnstone, of York House,
•Twickenham, the sum of £1,900 by fraudulent pre-
tences. _

The fects have already been made public. The
prisoner, an Italian artist, living at 22, Ovingdon-
square, was introduced to the lady at the house of
her relative, a nobleman. He professed attachment,
was received as a suitor unknown to the lady's
family, and in that character obtained a large sum
of money. The lady, desiring to put an end to her
infatuation, requested the return of her letters.
The prisoner agreed to return them on receiving
£2,000. The money was given to him at the Pan-
theon Bazaar, and he gave the lady a parcel pur-
porting to contain the letters, but which, 013 exami-
nation, was found to contain old newspapers.
Mr. Sergeant Parry, instructed by Mr. Lewis, of
Ely-place, conducted the • prosecution, and Mr.
Keane, the defence.
Witnesses were requested to leave the court and
did so.

Mr. Sergeant Parry wished the evidence on the
first occasion read over.

Mr. Mansfield stated that, upon issuing a warrant
he had an information on oath taken in writing.
The only evidence at the first examination was that
of the constable who took the prisoner into custody.
The evidence having been read over by the clerk,
Mr. Parry said—l have the honour—
__ _ _

Mr. Keane objected to any speech from Mr.
Parry, as on the previous occasion Mr. Lewis had
said all that was requisite.
Mr. Parry said it was a matter not of right but
of magisterial discretion to hear either counsel or
attorney. He was quite in the hands of the Court.
He thought a short statement might be advan-

tageous.
Mr. Mansfield thought it would be advisable to
hear Mr. Parry, as he should like to know how the
case would shape itself.
Mr. Parry said the prisoner was charged with
constructive larceny, and obtaining money by false
pretences. In addition he had sent letters of a
threatening nature. He then went into the parti-
culars adduced in evidence, reading, in their proper
order, the following letters :

COPIES OF TRANSLATED LETTERS.
No. 1. " Dated June 10.
" No, no, no. Not a month more of such a life

—not even a week—it is infernal to me—it is the
vengeance of God !! Yes, you have ruined me,
physically and morally. You have destroyed every-
thing in me—my talent, my peace, my heart. Come,
miss ; you have only one of three things to choose
—you will either marry me, or insure me enough
to live upon—or I shall leave England.
" You have three days to think it over. " V.C."
No. 2. " 7 o'clock p.m. Aug. 16, 1861.
" Sir,—As guardian of the lady who met you on
Saturday, August 3d, at the Pantheon, about 11
o'clock, I have to request you will deliver up to the
bearer of this note all letters or documents of any
kind which may have been addressed by that lady
to you, as well as a stamped receipt for the sum of
nineteen hundred pounds (in notes, numbered
55,062 to 55,080 inclusive).
" By this time you must have discovered that the
parcel which you delivered to the lady on the re-
ceipt of the money, contained only useless old news-
papers in lieu of her letters.
" If,- therefore, within two hours, all the letters,
as well as a properly-signed stamped receipt are not
given to the bearer, or left at the Reform Club,
Pall-mall, I shall be obliged to take such steps as I
am advised may be adopted towards you.
" I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
"To Mr. Vincent Collueci." '1" W. P. C. J.
No. 3. " August 17.
" Sir,—ln a letter which you addressed yesterday
to the lady, whose relative and guardian I am, you
state that you are ready to give up all her letters
when she wishes it.
" I am acting by her wishes, and she authorises
me to request that you will send me all her letters
sealed up in a parcel, and directed to me at the club
before five o'clock.
" Yours,
No. 4.

" W. P. C. J."
" August 17.

" It is now more than three years you have known
me, so that you ought by this time to have
known my character also ; and therefore you ought
to think that the path you have chosen is a bad one.
I stand on my rights, and on the laws of this coun-
try. There is no mortal nwn can touch that which
belongs to me without scandal and behaving scan-
dalously ; therefore away with useless excuse or
foolish bravadoes. Can you see me in good friend-
ship as you have done in times past ? Then you and
I can arrange and see what else we can do. Re-
member that to get out of the ruin into which you
have thrown me, I am ready for everything or any-
thing—know this! Alas, I beg of you do not push
me to extremes, which may be dreadful for you and
for me, You have placed me in a position from
which there is but one path to get out yet—the
path is in your hands ! Come and see me. Adio.
" V. C.

" P.S.—Do not make your guardian write to me,
for it is time lost. I have already said I shall not
open the letters."
No. 5.

" August 16.

" DEAR SlR,—The answer to the letter I have
received is that I shall send it to the house of the
lady of whom You are the guardian.
" I am, with profound consideration, your very
obedient servant, " V. CoLLucci."
No. 6. " August 16.
"MY DEAREST,—I have just received a letter
which makes me laugh, and I think you will also
laugh when you read it.
" By G—, I think you have chosen a bad path,
and I warn you, if yeu take another stet not
friendly, I will give your letters into the hands of
a magistrate, in order to demand my rights.
" Miss J., with your hands you would ruin me,
and with your own hands you shall save me from
the precipice into which you have thrown me. You
have destroyed my future, and you shall give it
back to me. I swear it to you by my mother !
" The idea makes me laugh much at steps against
me. Do you mean to say you will make my con-
duct public ?
" But this is what I wish, in order to justify
myself before the society in which I live. Remem-
ber, you have not even a reason in your favour.
The star in the ceiling of my studio—the star in
your hair—the picture—the star in the little bottle
received from you as a token of love—and your
hair, would be sufficient proofs, without the letters,
to condemn you. Know that if any one shall dare
to force me—to be violent with me, it will cost
their life—at the peril of their life ! The letters
are miae, and no one has a right to demand them. I
will not give them up except when you—you shall
wish it. Adieu. Remember, that you will gain
more by being friendly than by waging war
against me ; and that I did love you, and that you,
as a reward, have ruined me.
"P.S.—Come and see me as speedily as possible ;
and, if you like it, in company with the gentle-
man who wrote the letter, as I shall be very happy
to make his acquaintance. " V. C."
(No date.)
" Dear Sir,—l am very sorry to tell you that
what you ask of me is perfectly impossible. I can-
not consent to be annoyed in this affair, and have
already said this is not the means by which we can
understand each other. I hope it will be the last
time it will be repeated."
This letter, which was in very bad French, con-
cluded by asking the lady to call upon him, and
requested that Mr. Johnstone should not write to
him again.
The learned gentleman, in reading the letters,
made some strong comments, observing that,
beyond doubt, the evidence would prove, when she
parted with her £1,900, a course of fraud had been
perpetrated. The charge would therefore be false
pretence and constructive larceny. The elements
required to support the last were of a more subtle
character ; but with respect to the false pretence,
he felt assured the magistrate would be prepared to
commit him at once. It might not be altogether ir-
relevant to state that Miss Johnstone and her guar-
dian were willing to settle the matter, so that it
should not come before the public; this was because
they wished to spare the bitter pain, annoyance,
and terrible agony which an inquiry in a court
of justice would produce. The prisoner might
have kept the money, might have gone to America
or to the end of the earth, provided he had
done what was required of him—given up the let-
ters. All his letters to her contained palpable
threats, which would act forcibly on a weak-minded
woman, but which, on a strong-minded woman
would have no effect. The learned gentleman then
went into the particulars relating to the parcel pur-
porting to contain the lady's letters, but which con-
tained nothing but old newspapers. The prisoner
denied giving this parcel to the lady, but the fact
would be clearly brought home to him. He no
doubt, throughout life, intended to prey upon this
lady and extort money from her, but fortunately
she had the moral courage to come forward in a
court of law and to make the present charge. He
need not go into the craven conduct of the prisoner
going down on his knees to the officer and denying
the charge, but would at once call his witnesses.

Miss Frederica Johnstone, a lady of upwards of
40 years of age, fashionably dressed, was called.
In consequence of her indisposition, she was allowed
to give her evidence seated. She said—l reside at
Twickenham. About three years ago the prisoner
was introduced to me. He was practising then the
profession of an artist. In consequence of his pro-
fession the prisoner visited myself and sister at our
house. He was on terms of intimacy with us up to

July of this year. I corresponded by letter with
him, and he also wrote to me. Up to that time I
bad advanced the prisoner, by loans and gifts, about
£2,000. On the 10th of June I received a letter, in
consequence of which, within a few days, I called
upon the prisoner. I asked him why he wrote in
that way, as regarded marriage; that it remained
where I had first settled it, and we had agreed long
ago it never could be. The prisoner knew this
perfectly well. Then, as regarded the two other
propositions, I could not take upon myself the re-
sponsibility of deciding. On which he became
furious at the word " responsibility," and defied
me to repeat it. His countenance, manner, and
words alarmed me. His words were—" I have
compromised myself in your society ; don't talk to
me of responsibility ;" and he spoke in French.
Mr. Keane said he should require the French
words.
Mr. Parry objected.
Mr. Mansfield said the word in French must be
given as near as the lady could recollect.
Miss Johnstone then repeated the conversation in
French. He said his honour was dear to him, and
he would fight anybody who attacked his honour,
pointing to a pair of foils in the room. I cannot
recollect now, the effect was injurious to me ; the
impression of extreme violence being on my mind.
I told him I did not wish to do him an injury; if
you wish me to do anything, say what you require.
He replied he would trust to my generosity ; he
wanted enough to live upon. I replied, I have
very little in my power • I said I had no notion of
having injured him. The interview continued a
long time, with repetitions of violent language and
conduct. This interview took place at the pri-
soner's:residence in 0 vingdon-square. I made an
arrangement then, or subsequently, to meet the
prisoner at Baker-street Bazaar. I cannot recol-
lect the precise words or time, as all that I did was
done in torment and agitation, and I did not then
perceive the bent of the whole thing.
A discussion here arose as to the language in
which the depositions should be taken, the conver-
sation being in French. The magistrate decided
it must be translated into English.
Miss Johnstone continued—The prisoner began
by saying, "Do not fear." I said, " I know not
what to do." The prisoner replied, "It will not
be a great sacrifice for you to give me something."
I said, " Well, if you believe I have injured you I
wiil do something, but I must have the letters." I
repeated this more than once. The prisoner shook
his head, and said, " I have your letters. You shall
have your letters." I replied, "If you will restore
my letters, I will see if I can arrange £2,000, but
it cannot possibly be till after the 11th of July."
He replied, " Courage—that will do for the pre-
sent." I said, " I can do nothing more, Ido not
know that I can even manage the £2,000." After
some more conversation we parted. A few days
before the 30th July, I had another interview at the
prisoner's house. The prisoner asked what I had
arranged. I said I had not been able t o arrange any-
thing, there were so many formalities to go through.
The prisoner said, sharply, " What ! have you not
arranged anything? I thought you had the money in
your hand. It is a case in which a lady ought to sell
the last thing she was possessed of." The prisoner's
manner was violent. He flung his arms about, walk-
ing about the room all the time, and continued in
the same strain. He said, " You have ruined me,"
repeating the words over and over again. I replied,
" I do not understand you, or what do you mean."
He replied, " No more of this childishness with me,
I well know the rights I have." The prisoner then
said something about a proces, and the laws of the
country. At last he said, " I must have 1100 in a
day or two." I replied I would give it if possible.
I then went away, and wrote to him to say I would
meet him at the Baker-street Bazaar. It was on
the 30th of July. I saw him at the Bazaar, and I
then gave him bank notes for £lOO. After leaving
him I wrote in Italian requesting him to meet me
at the Pantheon Bazaar, and to bring me all my
letters. I put a dash under the words " All my
letters." The prisoner met me on the 3d of August
at the Pantheon, in the picture-room. The conver-
sation began by " How do you do." I replied that
it was with great difficulty I had arranged the
matter. The prisoner moved his hands about, and
said, " Give it to me." I mentioned I had notes,
and that they were all known, as the numbers had
been taken. The prisoner only replied, " Give them
to me," adding that he could not go to his own
country, but would go to America. I still hung back,
and did not produce the notes. A person came into
the room, and we walked out into another room.
The prisoner said, " Well, give me the notes." I
said, " Where are my letters ?" He said, " I have
them." I said, " Where are they ?" He said, hold-
ing his two hands down, " They are here." I said.
" All ?" He replied, " Yes ; all, all, all." I saw a
parcel sticking out from beneath his coat. We
walked round the room into the first room. I said,
" Where are my letters P" and he then put a parcel
into my hands. I gave him my parcel, which con-
tained £1,900 in £lOO bank notes. I gave it to
him, not doubting that he had given me all my
letters. The prisoner broke open my parcel to see
if the notes were there. I did not open the prisoner's
parcel. We went down stairs, and I asked the pri-
soner for a receipt. He made some excuse, and
said he would send a receipt.
The prisoner, who throughout the proceedings
had been making gestures and looking menacingly
at Miss Johnstone, was here remarked upon by Mr.
Parry, and obliged by the magistrate to conduct
himself with decency.
Miss Johnstone continued—The prisoner said he
would send a receipt by post, and we parted. When
I got into the cab and was proceeding homeward
unfastened the parcel, as it was too large to clasp,
intending to put some of the letters in my pocket,
and I then found that the parcel was made up of
old newspapers. There was one of my letters
placed over a piece torn from the cover, so as show
the handwriting. The parcel was sealed with a
dove. It was with a seal which I had given to the
prisoner. When I got home I mentioned to my
guardian, Mr. Campbell Johnstone, that I was
miserable, but I did not then enter into full parti-
culars. I received two or three letters from the
prisoner after paying him the money.
As it was nearly six o'clock, an 'application for
an adjournment till next Tuesday was agreed to.