Saturday 22 Jun 1844 (p. 3, col. 2-3) INQUEST.-An inquest was held at Penrith, on Wednesday last, before Mr. CARRICK, Coroner, on the body of Mr. George HETHERINGTON, a highly respectable farmer in that town, who committed suicide by drowning, on the evening of Sunday last. The unfortunate gentleman had been absent on business from Thursday till Sunday morning. In the evening of the latter day he invited his wife to have a walk, which she was obliged to decline on account of indisposition. He then left home, and in the course of the evening was met by several persons walking at a rapid pace in the direction of Edenhall, along the Alston turnpike. He was apparently much excited, and did not recognise many parties with whom he was acquainted. Not having returned home, his friends became alarmed, and a search was immediately commenced, but no discovery of the body followed till Tuesday evening, when he was found in a pond near to Edenhall village. He had all his clothes upon his body, and in his pocket was found a good deal of money. The jury returned a verdict of insanity. THE LATE PETER NICHOLSON.-We this week have to record, in our obituary, the death of Mr. Peter NICHOLSON, the celebrated architect, which melancholy event took place in this city on Tuesday morning last. He was well known in the scientific world, having, by his numerous works, contributed more to the extension of science and the useful arts than perhaps any other man in the country. He was born at Haddington, of respectable parents, and after receiving the rudiments of his education at the parish school, was apprenticed by his father, who was a stonemason, to a cabinet-maker in the village of Linton. Here his natural abilities soon began to display themselves, and by the time he had completed his apprenticeship he had made, during his leisure hours, considerable proficiency in the science of mathematics. He resided in Edinburgh for some time afterwards, and thence proceeded to London, where, whilst working as a journeyman, he opened an evening school, in which he taught his fellow-workmen the application of geometry to joinery and carpentry. He has long been before the world as an author, having published many of the most popular works of the day, on mathematics, architecture, &c. So intense, however, was his devotion to these pursuits, that he paid but little attention to business matters; and the profits realized by his works enriched not him but his publishers. A meeting was held in Newcastle, in 1831, to raise a fund to purchase an annuity for him in his declining years; and a subscription was entered into; but from some cause or other with which we are unacquainted the project was abandoned, and we believe Mr. NICHOLSON never received any of the advantages which it seemed at first to hold out. It is the too common lot of genius to feel the pinchings of indigence while alive, although persons of a shrewd turn for ordinary business amass large fortunes: and such was the lot of Mr. NICHOLSON. He died in his 78th year, after a life of usefulness devoted to science and the arts of his country. SUSPECTED MURDER OF A WIFE BY HER HUSBAND.-In our last we stated that a Mrs BELANEY who was represented in the London papers as a native of Westmoreland, had died in London, from the effects of Prussic acid; and that her husband, a surgeon, was in custody on a charge of wilfully administering the deadly poison. The case has since undergone further investigation before the Coroner, and some important evidence has been produced. It now appears, that instead of being natives of Westmoreland, the deceased and her husband were from North Sunderland; and a letter was intercepted from the latter to a friend giving a very different account of the cause of death, were that given by him to one of the surgeons who made the post mortem examination. It also appears that two letters have been received from him by friends in North Sunderland; in one of which it is stated that Mrs. B. is very ill, and that two physicians are in attendance upon her; and in the other he announces her death. Both letters were written after her death. The deceased was the daughter of late Mr. and Mrs. SKELLY, of North Sunderland, was 22 years of age, and highly respected. The Tyne Mercury says-"It is said that the body of Mrs. SKELLY, the mother of the deceased, will be disinterred, as there are suspicions afloat as to the cause of death; more especially from the strange manner in which the funeral was conducted."