7. On April 18 BF wrote William Smith that he had had but one short line from him since he reached England, and that he had received nothing from him by the Carolina or the Nelly, (see above, p. 263), whose arrivals were reported in Pa. Gaz. that day. But in February 1754 Smith had written BF and Peters an account of his efforts in behalf of the Academy of Philadelphia and of German education in Pennsylvania (see above, p. 203). This document, with accompanying letters, could have reached Philadelphia in April, and may have come with other mail for BF in the Myrtilla, which arrived on Monday, April 29 (Pa. Gaz., May 2, 1754); and thus this letter to Peters would have been written the next morning, Tuesday, April 30.

“Mr. Smith’s Letters” may, of course, mean letters brought by Smith, who came home late in May. This would require an assumption that Peters incorrectly dated his endorsement—a possibility for which there is no evidence.