A POPULAR BRIGAND.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 248, 25 February 1911, Page 9

A POPULAR BRIGAND.

POET AXD THEOLOGIAN. Thß popular hero of the day in Italy is the notorious Sicilian brigand Salomone. who has now served live years of his life sentence for murder. Altogether, this remarkable man has over a dozen assassinations to his discredit. Salomone is barely literate, hut in vigor of i»Idled and mental versatility he has few equals. During his trial this terrible bandit astonished his judges and the whole of Italy by defending himself in a speech of rare eloquence and beauty of expression. Ue represented himself'not as a murderer, but as a lynch law judge and executioner, and developed a sustained and elaborate argument, based on ethical and sociological grounds, in demonstration of his real innocence of criminality, or, at least, in defence of the system of private justice known as vendetta. hi prison Halomone's genius found expression in verse, not of the highest technical merit, for, of course, his grammar and metre are simply » matter of oral and almost instinctive knowledge, but, remarkable for its. vigor and expression and its inspiration, lie lias written an autobiographical poem of considerable merit, and the gift of 7uetrical improvisation, of which he gave a wonderful exhibition during his trial, has been developed by him to a high pitch, he has also no mean skill as a draughtsman and caricaturist. Of late he lias turned his attention to the field of theology, and has closely examined the question of the authenticity of the Gospels. His theological studies have filled this bandit and mnrderer with a new inspiration, and according to the latest reports he earnestly desires his liberation, not merely for its own sake, but in order that he may found a new religion!