The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance

They also, it would appear, exercised some sort of surveillance over private correspondence. Chambers, in his 'Domestic Annals of Scotland,' to which valuable work we are again indebted, gives a case in point: "In July 1701, two letters from Brussels, having the cross upon the back of them, had come with proper addresses under cover to the Edinburgh postmaster. He was surprised with them, and brought them to the Lord Advocate, who, however, on opening them, found they were of no value, being only on private business; wherefore he ordered them to be delivered by the postmaster to the persons to whom they were directed." Yet zeal for the King's interest did not always have an acceptable reward, as is shown by the Scotch Privy Council Record of 1679. The keeper of the Edinburgh letter-office was accused of "sending up a bye-letter with the flying packet upon the twenty-two day of June last, giving ane account to the postmaster of England of the defeat of the rebels in the west, which was by the said postmaster communicated to the King before it could have been done by his Majesty's Secretary for Scotland, and which letter contains several untruths in matter of fact." For having forestalled his Majesty's Secretary, probably, rather than for the inaccuracy as to facts, the keeper of the post was sent to the Tolbooth, there to meditate upon the unprofitableness of official zeal, during the Council's pleasure. It does not seem to have been thought prudent to intrust the date-stamping of letters to postmasters generally until some time in the present century. Down to the close of last century, at any rate, according to a Survey report of the year 1800, this was allowed only at the more important offices. The report is as follows:--"In regard to having the Dumbarton letters stamped with the day of the month, as now done at Glasgow, the subject has often been considered, and although it has been approved of with some large commercial towns in England, and Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland, it has been much doubted how far it would be proper or necessary to establish it generally with less towns, where the practice might be more subject to irregularity or abuses, besides the very great expense such a supply of stamps would occasion to the revenue."