22 JULY 1955, Page 17

MANNERS ABROAD S1R,—Your correspondent, Helen Brander, rushing in where British

angels should fear to tread, makes the remarkable assertion, in the interests of good relations with foreigners, that it is not only incorrect but also most impolite to say Mademoiselle when addressing a French lady, without the addition of the surname.

Whatever may be the correct or polite pro- cedure in Stratford-atte-Bow, it would seem that the whole French population must be strangely ignorant and mannerless if her assertion is to be regarded as authoritative.— Yours faithfully, WILLIAM SEEDS