At this period we have interesting records of the seizure and pillage of the Mail by the Rebels. On the 16th September 1715, the Postmaster of Inverness wrote to the Postmaster-General--"I had yours of y^e 8th current, Tuesday last, about 10 o'clock forenoon. The night before I had account that y^e Post was prisoner; our bagg was broke up, so was y^e Dingwall and Dornoch baggs. You have, enclosed, a list of what came in my open bagg; if there were any frank letters, I received none of them, save 6 or 7."[26] It would also appear that the Mail was occasionally violated by common robbers. In 1716, the Duke of Argyll, who had then supreme control in Scotland, gave orders to Mr. Anderson to place relays of horses from Edinburgh to Inverness, for the purpose of forwarding despatches to, and receiving intelligence from the army in the Highlands under General Cadogan. These Posts worked upon two lines of roads--the one went through Fife and round by the east coast, passing through Aberdeen; the other took the central road _via_ Perth, Dunkeld, and Blair Athole. These Horse Posts were, however, discontinued immediately after the army retired. At this time the Government evinced great concern about the Irish correspondence, and ordered Mr. Anderson to visit Portpatrick, and examine the harbours, with the view of selecting the one most convenient for the Mail Packets. After the Rebellion had been suppressed, the public appear to have had great confidence in the Post, and evinced a desire to have more extended Postal accommodation, and in some instances memorialized the Postmaster-General to open offices in the rural districts. By an order, dated 26th November 1717, Mr. Anderson received notice, that he had been superseded, and that Sir John Inglis had been appointed Deputy Postmaster-General for Scotland, and would take office on the 1st December. It would appear from the correspondence of Mr. Anderson, that all appointments in the Post Office in Scotland, were held directly from the Deputy Postmaster-General for the time being; and on the entrance of a new Postmaster-General into office, all commissions and bonds of security had to be renewed, and it was common for the Postmasters to employ all the influence in their power to obtain the favour of the new Postmaster-General, in order to be retained in their situations.[27] In 1730, the yearly revenue of the Post Office establishment in Scotland was £1194.[28] In 1738, Archibald Douglas, Esq., was Deputy Postmaster-General, and the establishment in Edinburgh consisted of eleven persons, including the Postmaster-General, a person called an apprehender of private letter-carriers, and three letter-carriers or runners.[29]