“_Only a penny_” was the price of admission to “_The Black Wild Indian
Woman.--The White Indian Youth--and the Welsh Dwarf.--All Alive!_” There
was this further announcement on the outside, “_The Young American will
Perform after the Manner of the French Jugglers at Vauxhall Gardens,
with Balls, Rings, Daggers_,” &c. When the “Welsh dwarf” came on he was
represented to be Mr. William Phillips, of Denbigh, fifteen years of
age. The “white Indian youth” was an Esquimaux, and the exhibitor
assured the visitors upon his veracity, that “the black wild Indian
woman” was “a court lady of the island of Madagascar.” The exhibitor
himself was “the young American,” an intelligent and clever youth in a
loose striped jacket or frock tied round the middle. He commenced his
performances by throwing up three balls, which he kept constantly in the
air, as he afterwards did four, and then five, with great dexterity,
using his hands, shoulders, and elbows, apparently with equal ease. He
afterwards threw up three rings, each about four inches in diameter, and
then four, which he kept in motion with similar success. To end his
performance he produced three knives, which, by throwing up and down, he
contrived to preserve in the air altogether. These feats forcibly
reminded me of the Anglo-Saxon Glee-man, who “threw three balls and
three knives alternately in the air, and caught them, one by one, as
they fell; returning them again in regular rotation.”[274] The young
American’s dress and knives were very similar to the Glee-man’s, as
Strutt has figured them from a MS. in the Cotton collection. This
youth’s was one of the best exhibitions in the Fair, perhaps the very
best. The admission it will be remembered was “only a penny.”