[Footnote 1: It was in 1825 that Sgricci invited the literati of Paris
to meet in a spacious hall, where he was to extemporize a tragedy.
Every spectator was allowed to vote for the subject of the play, and
the majority decided in favor of _the Death of Charles I_. A few
moments afterwards, Sgricci explained the _dramatis personæ_, and began
to deliver extempore a tragedy of about _fifteen hundred verses!_ That
production was printed, and many passages are full of poetical talent.
Francisco Gianni extemporized, during one year, every morning and
evening, two pieces of poetry under the title of _Saluto del Matino_,
and _Saluto de la Sera_. In order that the lovers of Italian poetry may
judge Gianni's skill in extemporising, I will quote as a specimen, one
of his productions.