THE STARS AND STRIPES IN ENGLAND
SLR,—A reviewer of Sir Evelyn Wrench's Transatlantic London in the Spectator of May 6th quotes a pleasing story about " the first Aperican flag hoisted in old England." It is said that, when George III read his speech in the House of Lords recognising the independence of the Colonies, John Copley, who was painting a portrait of a fellow American in London, painted in the Stars and Stripes on his unfinished flag. Over here another tradition prevails. It is to the effect that the ship ' Bedford ' (Captain Moers), owned by the Quaker whaler of Nantucket, William Rotch, first flew the American Stars and Stripes in the Downs on February 3rd, 1783. There is, however, a similar claim for the ' William Penn' (Captain Josiah), of Philadelphia.----Yours, &c.,
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