Verses were sometimes composed by Julia, merely to amuse her grandfather; who used to read them with a degree of satisfaction, which may, perhaps, be pardoned from the consideration that the writer was his grand-daughter. Affection is generally supposed to blind the judgment; and if so, she probably throws one of her thickest bandages across the critical taste of a grandfather, while he is perusing the productions of one, who is the darling of his age, the joy of his eyes, and the soother of his infirmities.

Julia was walking one morning upon the lawn before the house, when she saw a black cat seize a linnet that was perched upon a neighbouring tree, and to whose song she had been listening. She made an exclamation, which brought a maid-servant to the door; Julia pointed eagerly to the black cat; upon which the maid instantly ran, and, seizing the animal with great intrepidity, rescued the linnet from its gripe. After breakfast Julia scrawled the following lines upon this incident.

The LINNET