The Sun.
London, England, 1869-03-17 00:00:00

RELICS OF MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS..

An interesting bequest to the Queen was despatched on
Saturday from Wishaw House to Windsor Castle, which
her Majesty, from her acknowledged love for Scotland
and everything Scottish, will, no doubt, highly prize. It
would appear from a letter written and left by the late
Lord Belhaven, that the relics, of which the bequest is
composed, were placed at the disposal of the Queen, and
her Majesty has been graciously pleased to signify her
acceptance of them. Relic No. 1 consists of a cabinet made
of ebony, richly ornamented in front with designs in
toitoiseshell, height Mt. 2in., width 4ft. 2in., depth
lft. Oin. The front opens with folding doors. In the
centre also are two small folding doors, which, on being
opened, reveal a small recess, with tesselated pavement
and roof with side mirrors. The inner folding-doors are
also surrounded with drawers. The Scottish Queen brought
this cabinet with her from France on her return to Scot-
land to begin her eventful career. This souvenir of the

ill-fated Mary must therefore be some 300 years old, but
it is in wonderfully good preservation. Queen Mary
presented it to the Earl of Mar. The Earl afterwards
made a gift of it to a favourite granddaughter, who mar-
ried one of the ancestors of the late Lord Belhaven, and
the cabinet has continued in the possession of the Bel-
haven family ever since. Relic No. 2 is a purse (the
work of Queen Mary's own hands), beautifully wrought
with a crown, sceptre; and sword, in gold, with the
words " God save King James." Relic No. 3is a
piece of unleavened bread, to which no authentic his-
tory is attached, but is traditionally Lnderstood to have
been a fragment of what Queen Mary bad used when
participating in the most solemn rite of her religion.
There is also a lock of Mary's hair, which is of a light
colour. The original letter addressed by the late Lord
Belhaven, placing these interesting souvenirs at the dis-
posal of the Queen, was locked up in one of the drawers
of the Cabinet. Her Majesty commissioned Mr. Matheson,
of the Board of Works, to superintend the packing of the
precious relics, which were duly forwarded to -Windsor
Castle, per Caledonian Railway, on Saturday night.—
North British 111 ail.

The death of a veteran journalist is announced.
Mr. Henry Cooke the founder of the Oxford Chronicle,
died at his residence in Oxford on Sunday morning, after
a short illness. He started this paper more than thirty
years ago, and was over 70 when he died.

We regret to hear that Miss Carrenter—the suc-
cess cf whose educational work at Bombay we recently an-
nounced—has been very dangerously ill. An attack of
inflammation of the lungs has caused serious alarm to her
physician. The last telegram received in London states that
tshe is "much better."

The Dublin Fenian Amnesty Committee have
published an answer to Cardinal Cullen's letter refusing per-
mission for a collection in the churches for the
bonefit of the released political prisoners. They ray
that the liberation of the Fenions was treated by
them as an object of national interest, and the
collection as a work of merey.and charity. They do not
wish to commit themselves, or any one else, to any political
opinion; and they still feel confident that "by whatever
machinery the subscription may be carried out, the Irish
peoplo will respond to the appeal."
LORD DERBY IN AMERICA.--A correspondent
having asked in Notes and Queries of March 6 whether
Lord Derby was not the only English Premier who bad
ever visited America, and given a very erroneous account
of his voyage, Lord Derby replied to the inquiry in the
last number of Notes and Queries by the following letter:—
" I can hardly suppose that the details of my voyage to
America in 1824 can have much public interest ; but as
your correspondent T.' has given an account of it, to
which he invites `eirreetion,' I am ready to gratify him, on
what, I suppose, he will admit to be good authority. The
only fact for which there is any foundation is that I did
sail for America in company with the present Speaker
of the House of Commons ; my other companions being
the late Lord Wharncliffe and the present Lord Taunton,
then Mr. Labouchere. He says that I was in Hali-
fax, N.S., some 44 years ago. I never was there in
my life. That I sailed from England in the Fahnouth
packet, a brig of 250 tons, commanded by a lieutenant,
with 8 quaker guns and 35 men.' My friends and I
embarked at Liverpool fur New York on board the
Canada, a ship of 600 tons, belonging to the well-known
Black Ball line of packets, admirably furnished in every
respect, and which left on our minds no recollection of
homely fare or rough trvelling.' It is added that I
visited Nova Scotia with the present Speaker of the
House of Commons ;' and that the two distinguished
gentlemen sailed from Halifax, for the second time risking
their lives in the old Falmouth Dragon.' When, at the
close of our tour, my three companions wanton to Halifax,
I quitted them at New York, and returned by the same
line of packets by which I had gone out, without the least
apprehension of loss of life. lam aware that these details
are wholly unimportant ; but as an entirely incorrect
statement has appeared in N. and Q. , CIA will perhaps
think it worth while to set .ynnr correspondent #Bl4 aB. to
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