This chapter discusses how the choices made at Edinburgh can be seen by looking at the men who filled the principality after the death of Principal Rule in 1701. It observes that the clearest illustrations of political interference in Scottish academic affairs were to be found in the appointments of the principals of the universities. It notes that the principals were important national figures who often sat in the General Assembly. It further notes that the Edinburgh principal ordinarily had a hand in the administration of Crown patronage in the Kirk, and might also be important in burgh politics. It reports that the first of these men was William Carstares (11 February 1649–28 December 1715). It further reports that William Carstares had been involved in high politics since the 1670s and had become a trusted political advisor to William of Orange in the 1680s, eventually becoming Royal Chaplain, a post he retained under Queen Anne.