This morning Mr. John R. McDonald received the sad intelligence of the death of his mother, at the residence of Mrs. George McKay, Ferrona, a daughter of deceased.  She had been ill for some time and her death was not unexpected, altho' the announcement came suddenly.  Deceased was born in Sutherlandshire, Scotland, in 1811, and came to this country in 1815.  She was the widow of the late Charles McDonald, of Pictou.  Mr. J. R. McDonald and Mrs. Harris, widow of the late Wm. Harris, printer, of Pictou, are children.