and cons from various sage antiquarians for months to come, in that
invaluable work of old Sylvanus Urban, 'yclept the "Gentlemen's
Magazine." As the play-bills on which this important piece of
information is to be found, will doubtless be bought up by all the
mystogogii of the Metropolis, and shortly become scarce, we shall take
the liberty of inserting it in our imperishable pages, for the benefit,
not only of posterity, but for those of our own day, who are infected
with the building mania, and who, we think, ought to make Mr. Farley
some very valuable present to mark their sense of the obligation they
are under to him, in consequence of the benefit which must accrue to
them from it. It appears from this fragment in what manner Jack became
possessed of his house, and which it never before occurred to us, to
enquire. Thus then the mystery is elucidated by Mr. Farley.

Jack's Wager;

"By virtue of one of our forest charters, if a man do build a dwelling
upon common land, from sun-set to sun-rise, and enclose a piece of
ground, wherein there shall be a tree growing, a beast feeding, a fire
kindled, and provision in the pot, such dwelling shall be freely held by
the builder, anything to the contrary, nevertheless, notwithstanding."
Forest Laws.

Accordingly Jack, in the opening scene, is represented just before
nightfall, as completing his dwelling, by putting on the chimney pot as
the finishing stroke; he then claims his bride, Rosebud, from her
father, Gaffer Gandy, who refuses his consent, having determined on
bestowing her hand on one Squire Sap. Jack, in despair, repairs to Poor
Robin, the village astrologer, who is intently observing an eclipse of
the moon (which, by-the-bye, is most excellently managed), and relates
his griefs. The old man cheers his drooping spirits, by casting his
nativity and finding by his observations, that Jack's stars are of the
most benign influence, and that all his wishes shall be fulfilled. The
marriage of the maiden all forlorn with the Squire is on the point of
being completed, when Venus (one of whose doves had been preserved by
Jack) dispatches Cupid to the assistance of the despairing lovers, by
the magic of whose powerful wand the usual Pantomimic changes are
effected in a trice--Jack becomes Harlequin; Rosebud, Columbine;
Gaffer, Pantaloon; the Squire, the Lover; and the Priest, the Clown.
Mirth, revelry, fun, frolic, and joviality are now the order of the day,
and the scene c