When one goes to see a new piece now-a-days, we
may reasonably ex- pect to hear a feiv Aewjokes, or to behold some novel combinations; but one no more anticipates a really new position than the discovery of a sovereign in a metropolitan thoroughfare. Hence, when the boon actually does come, the sense of enjoyment is all the more keen. A piece produced at the Haymarket, under the title of An Alarming Sacrifice, is exactly a case in point; for it charms by a new dramatic position, and that of a very ludi- crous kind. Bob Ticket, a shopman endowed with all the small profligacy of a "fast man" in humble life, comes to a suburban estate, to take pos- session of the same as heir-at-law to an intestate uncle, and is almost be- side himself with his good fortune. Susan Sweetapple, the housemaid, who has indulged in the hope that her deceased master's nephew may make her an offer of his hand, is not a little displeased at the lax principles in which he seems to indulge, and is especially mortified at an invitation which he has sent to certain fascinating milliners. Declaring that the establishment will not accord with her ideas of propriety, she gives warning, and requests hira to look over her boxes. This be does, though unwillingly; and finds, to his horror, a will by the deceased uncle, leaving all the property to Susan. A severe internal battle follows this discovery. Our hero is puz- zled as to whether he shall destroy the will, or give up the goods and chattels to the rightful owner. He comes to a decision by looking in the glass, and watching the effect which the utterance of right and wrong sentiments produces on the countenance—pronounces in favour of virtue. There is something very neat and original in this caricature of the operation of the mind upon the features. Susan, taking possession of the property, makes poor Ticket her servant; and the effect of the sudden change of fortune, while Ticket is polishing the fire-irons of the house which he occupied as his own half an hour before, is irresistibly ludicrous. He bears his humiliation with a sullen fortitude, which no one can express like Buckstone; and is at last rewarded by the magnani- mous Susan, who has merely led him through adversity to give a whole- some check to his extravagances, and now tears the will which keeps him from the property. Bob marries her on the spot, and thus virtue is re- warded on both sides. The characters of this ingenious little piece are drawn with a great deal of discrimination and force; and the goodnatured Susan, who, like the Alcibiades of Marmontel, wants to find a man who Will love her for herself alone, makes an excellent part for Mrs. Fitzwil- liarn—she brings in the touches of kindliness with due force, but without exaggeration.
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