Important improvements in the frequency and extension of postal communication were inaugurated under the management of Cotton and Frankland. It was, however, for the extension of the foreign postal service and for that to Ireland and the plantations that their administration is most notable. On Monday and Thursday letters went to France, Italy, and Spain, on Monday and Friday to the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, and Denmark. On Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, mails left for all parts of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and there was a daily post to Kent and the Downs. Letters arrived in London from all parts of England, Scotland, and Ireland on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, from Wales every Monday and from Kent and the Downs every day. Besides the establishment of the General Post in London, there were about 200 deputy postmasters employed in England and Scotland.[145] The Irish Post was supervised from London and during the Irish war its headquarters in Ireland were transferred from Dublin to Belfast. It was directly managed by a Deputy Postmaster-General, aided by ten or a dozen officials and clerks. The net receipts were sent to England and the books were audited by a deputy sent over by the Auditor-General of the English Post.[146] [145] Stow, _London_, bk. v, p. 401; DeLaune, _Present State of England_, ed. 1690, p. 343. [146] _Cal. T. P._, 1557-1696, pp. 369, 461. The Scotch Post Office was not in so good condition as the Irish. The time when every Scotchman could read and write was yet very far distant. The only post road of any importance was from Edinburgh to Berwick and this had been established by the English. For many years the vast majority of letters travelling over this road were official despatches. After the crowns of England and Scotland were united, it was necessary for the English Government to keep in close touch with Scotland and "Black Box" made frequent journeys between the two countries. The canny people in the north had discovered a rich country to the south waiting to be exploited, and the post horses between Edinburgh and London were kept busy carrying the lean and hungry northern folk to the land of milk and honey. Until 1695 the English and Scotch Post Offices had been united under the English Postmaster-General with an Edinburgh deputy; but by the Scotch act of 1695 the Post Office of Scotland was separated from that of England. The terms of this act were much the same as those of the English act of 1660, although the rates established were somewhat higher. There was to be a Postmaster-General living in Edinburgh, who was to have the monopoly of carrying all letters and packets where posts were settled.[147] [147] _Acts of Parliament of Scotland_, ix., pp. 417-419 (5 Wm. III).