THE STARS AND STRIPES IN ENGLAND
Snt,—In the Spectator of June 17th Mr. Henry J. Cadbury writes from Boston, Massachusetts, where, he informs us, the tradition prevails that the ' Bedford,' owned by the Quaker whaler of Nantucket, William Rotch, first flew the Ameri4an Stars and Stripes in the Downs on February 3rd, 1783. The anecdote which I quoted in Transatlantic Lcndon concerning " the first American flag hoisted in old England," was taken from Men and Times of the Revolution by Elkanah Watson (Dana, N.Y.), 1856. This is the paragraph:
" I dined with the artist " (J. S. Copley) " on the glorious fifth of December, 1782, after listening with him to the speech of the King, formally recognising the United States of America as in the rank of nations. Previous to dinner and immediately after our return from the House of Lords, he invited me into his studio, and there with a bold hand, a ' master's touch,' and, I believe, an American heart, was attached to the ship, the Stars and Stripes ; this was I believe the first American flag, hoisted in old England."
I Ace no reason to suppose that Elkanah Watson was wrong in his
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