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XXVII. ADELAIDE PHILLIPS. AT the tender age of eight years, Miss Phillips was already an actress. She never knew why her parents chose that profession for her, nor could she remember her first appearance. Her earliest recollec- tion of the theatre dated back to some play in which she was required to jump out of a window. She feared to take the leap ; she hesitated, until an actor standing at the wings held up a big orange before her eyes, an inducement which she could not resist. She jumped, was caught safely in his arms, and received the fruit as her reward. Miss Phillips, whose family ties all bound her to America, and the greater part of whose professional career was passed in this country, scarcely liked to acknowledge that she was not an American. She was born in England, at Stratford-on-Avon, about the year 1835 ; her father English, her mother Welsh. When she was seven years of age her family came to America, going first to Canada, and thence to Boston, where they established their home. It was in this city that the little girl made her deljut in January, 1842, appearing at the Tremont Theatre in the comedy of " Old and Young," in which she was required to personate five characters, and introduce several songs and dances. A year later she joined the Boston Museum and amused the public with her representation of " Little Pickle " in " The Spoiled Child," and soon after she was promoted to take (347)