an appointment he ought to do far better; and, though he is a sharp fellow enough, I have never seen anything in him which indicates real genius or a superior intellect. _October 7th._--At Woburn, where the Duke and I had much conversation about Lord John and his position, and he showed me a great many of John's letters to him about his quarrel with the Government and the conduct of Clarendon to him, which he cannot forgive, though they are again corresponding with ostensible amity. The Duke owns that he does not see how John can take any prominent part in public life, at least for the present, and indeed considers it probable that his career as a statesman is closed; and, what is more, John seems to consider it so himself and to acquiesce in his position, though what his secret aspirations may be none can tell. He has, however, determined to give up his house in town, which looks like retirement. I strongly advised that John should go to the House of Lords, where he might still act a dignified and useful part; his position in the House of Commons would be very anomalous and disagreeable, and it is not at all certain that he would not lose his seat in the event of an election--very doubtful whether he would be returned again for the City; and the thing most to be deprecated is that he should stand and be defeated for that or any other place. The Duke neither agreed nor dissented, but he owned what I said of John's position was true, though he still thought he would be very reluctant to quit the House of Commons for ever, and retire to the Lords. DEATH OF SIR ROBERT ADAIR. On Tuesday last, after a few days' illness, Sir Robert Adair died at the age of 93, having preserved his faculties, and especially his remarkable memory, quite to the last. He was the last survivor of the intimate friends of Fox and of the political characters of his times. He had entertained a warm affection for Fox, and he preserved a boundless veneration for his memory; and the greatest pleasure he had was in talking of Fox and his contemporaries, and pouring forth to willing circles of auditors anecdotes and reminiscences of the political events with which he had been mixed up, or of which he had been cognisant in the course of his long life. This he did in a manner quite remarkable at so advanced an age, and he never had any difficulty in finding listeners to his old stories, which were always full of interesting matter, and related to the most conspicuous characters who flourished during the reigns of George III. and George IV.