1 JULY 1949, Page 20

THE STARS AND STRIPES IN ENGLAND

SIR,—The flying of the Stars and Stripes in 1783 in English ports referred to in Mr. Cadbury's letter is mentioned by Sylas Neville, a convinced pro- American, in his diary, to be published later in the year by the Oxford University Press. The entry is as follows: " 1783, Aug. 14. Afterwards took water almost as far as Deptford to see the flag of ye new States which ought to fill our government with shame and regret ; no ensigns out today but I had the pleasure of seeing several pendants—some of them having the thirteen stripes —others thirteen stars—white on a blue field. The American States may indeed consider themselves as stars of no mean brightness."—