The Rhode Island Republican

Vermont Murder.--It is known that Stephen and Jesse Brown were convicted of murder upon strong circumstantial testimony, and ordered for execution.

The man supposed to be murdered was called Russel Colvin, and after inquiries, it appears, that Russel Colvin is alive, has arrived in this city, and has for several years past resided in New-Jersey. The question then is, upon what testimony was these men convicted? A gentleman from their neighbourhood, related the circumstances as follows:--Colvin was a man of inexperience, of little talent or capacity to earn his living, he married a sister of these Browns, who had to support him, and to whom he was very obnoxious--Colvin was in the habit of straying away from his home, and keeping away for a length of time--he took his final departure, and nothing was heard of him, or suspected of him, until the dream.

It turned out, that in a field of these Browns, a large hole was usually kept open for preserving potatoes during winter--it was suddenly closed. In this old hole a skeleton of a man was found,:
Barlow penknife, bloody, and another knife, rusty, lay along side of him. Colvin's wife declared that they had belonged to her husband—she swore also to the buttons on his clothes, and for the first time she suspected he had been murdered—the two Browns were arrested—the younger one was imprisoned, and in the same prison a man was confined who had been arrested on suspicion of forgery, but subsequently was honorably acquitted; to this man Brown confessed that he and his brother had murdered Colvin, and buried him in the potato hole—this confession was given in evidence against them, which, together with other circumstances, led to his conviction. This is the story told to us—Colvin is alive and these men are innocent—but to whom does that skeleton belong? Some one was murdered in Brown's field, and secretly buried there—the two brothers, when quarreling, were frequently heard to threaten each other mysteriously. The ways of Providence are hidden from us, and the discovery of Colvin's existence may lead to the knowledge of who the person was thus cautiously buried; respecting whom, there is reason to believe, if our information is true, that the Browns know something of—another dream may be more conclusive.

N. Y. Advocate.