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

1-56 Such non-commissioned officers employed as ser

geant instructors will be borne on the rolls of their respec-
tive regiments as supernumeraries for service with volunteer
corps until the completion of their period of service for dis-
charge to pension or otherwise, and will receive the consoli-
dated pay named in Article 152, in lieu of all other pay
and allowances whatever. On their discharge they will be
al.owed to renew their engagements as sergeant instructors
on the terms laid down in the above-named article.
_

157. If the volunteer corps to which the noncommissioned
officer of the regular forces is attached as sergeant in-
structor should, from any sufficient cause, cease to require
his services before he discharged, he will return to his regi-
ment, if he is not posted to another volunteer corps.
158. If a non-commissioned officer transferred from the
regular forces is guilty of misconduct before his discharge
from the army, he may be sent back to his regiment on the
representation of the commanding officer to the Secretary
of State for War.

159. Every sergeant instructor to a volunteer corps is
subject to the general provisions of the Mutiny Act and
Articles of War, and is liable to be tried by court martial
for any crime committed against such Act or Articles of War
160. All sergeant instructors are to be considered as
under the supervision of the adjutant, who is required to
report to the officer commanding the corps any irregularity
of conduct, incompetence, or want of attention which he
may observe on the part of any instructor, and the com-
manding efficer, when necessary, will report the circum-
stances of the case to the Secretary of State. In the case
of an administrative regiment, brigade, or battalion, the
adjutant will also report such instances of irregularity to
the field officer commanding.
Sergeant instructors of such volunteer corps as may not
have at present the services of an adjutant will be placed
under the supervision of the nearest volunteer adjutant or
other officer, according to the directions of the Secretary of
State for War.
In the event of a sergeant instructor being guilty of any
offence of a sufficiently grave nature to induce his command-
ing officer to refer the case for the consideration of the Sec-
retary of Stag, he is to be placed in arrest until orders are
received as to his disposal.
161. A record will be kept of all offences which may be
proved against a sergeant instructor, after due investigation
by his commanding officer. Every entry is to be in the
handwriting of the officer in command, according to the
annexed form, and the book to be open at all times to the
inspection of the adjutant, the field officer commanding the
administrative regiment, brigade, or battalion, or the assis-
tant inspector of the district.
162. With a view to Meet cases in which additional drill
instructors may be temporarily required, or where difficulty
may be found in obtaining a sergeant instructor, sergeants
of the permanent staff of the disembodied militia may, if
willing to act as drill instructors, be attached to volunteer
corps for that purpose, at the discretion of their commanding
officer.
163. If employed in the place of a regular sergeant in-
structor, they will receive, at the public expense, ls. a-day,
in addition to their militia pay, with lodging, fuel, and light,
or an allowance of 4d a-day in lieu thereof; but if they are
employed as additional drill instructors, these allowances
must be paid by the corps to which they are attached.
164. In order to obtain a drill instructor from among the
permanent sergeants of the disembodied militia, the follow-
ing course is to be pursued :—lf the militia of the county to
which the volunteer corps belongs is disembodied, the officer
commanding the volunteer corps is to apply direct to the
officer commanding the militia regiment. If the militia of
the county is embodied, or if there should be no sergeants
belonging to it available for this purpose, the officer com-
manding the volunteer corps is to apply to the lord lieu-
tenant, who, if he should think proper, will communicate
with the lord-lieutenant of any adjacent county in which
the militia is disembodied, in order to obtain the required
instructor.
165. A drill instructor obtained from the militia under
the foregoing articles may be attached to a volunteer corps
for any period not exceeding three months, and his engage-
ment may be renewed at the expiration of such period, with
the consent of the commanding officer of the militia regi-
ment, but no sergeant of the permanent staff of the militia
can be permitted to remain with a volunteer corps during
the embodiment or annual training of his militia regiment.
166. Volunteer corps are not to make direct offers to non-
commissioned officers serving in the regular army to be-
come their sergeant instructors, nor to attempt to induce
sergeants of the militia, or sergeant instructors attached to,
or engaged by, other volunteer corps, to quit their regi-
ments or corps without the consent of the commanding offi-
cer of the militia regiment or volunteer corps. In any case
in which it may be proved that offers of this kind have been
made, the Secretnry of State will refuse his consent to the
appointment of the non.commissioned (lacer concerned.
167. The principal duty of a sergeant instructor is to
attend to the drill and instruction of the corps to which he
is attached ; but the commanding officer of the corps may
employ him to tale charge of the arms of the corps, or to
discharge other similar duties of a military character, pro-
vided they do not interfere with his special functions. lie
will not be pornaited to angage in any trade or business.

THE WEATHER AND THE CROPS.—The recent
find weather has done much to ripen the grain crops, and
there is now a good prospect of an abundant harvest. The
corn in the neighbourhood of Chesterfield is being rapidly
garnered, and thi crops are reported to be generally heavy.
In the northern division of the county the crops are in a
more forward position than has been known for years, owing
to the favourableness of the weather.

THE CASE OF LOVE AND FRAUD.

At the Marlborough-street, Police-court yester-
day Vincent Collucci 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 facts 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, on 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—cir 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 Collucci." :" W. P. C. J.
No. 3. " August 17.
"Sir,--In 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,

" W. P. C. J."
No. 4. " 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 man 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 lon 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 mice, 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 mere 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 -cialled.
In consequence of her indisposition, she was allowed
to givether 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
had 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 Ovingdon-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
will 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 £lOO 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 ?" 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 I
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.