From the death of Athelstan to the accession of Edgar, there are no incidents in connection with shipping or commerce worthy of record. Edgar, however, greatly increased the royal navy; nay, the monkish writers of the period assert that he had three or four thousand vessels, an exaggeration not requiring refutation.[485] Edgar, besides living in considerable splendour, spent large sums of money on monastic foundations; hence the only historians of his day took care to sound his praises with their highest notes. The more effectually to repress the ravages of the Danes, he is said to have divided his fleet into three divisions, and to have sent each squadron to separate stations, thus, for the first time, stationing his ships in a systematic manner along the English coasts, so as to guard against surprise, and protect the merchantmen trading with his seaports. Nor was he satisfied with the mere organization of his plans. Every summer he himself visited the fleets, making excursions from station to station, and by his vigilance kept the sea from being disturbed by marauders, thereby greatly contributing to the strength of his kingdom. [Sidenote: The wisdom of his policy.] But though he has been credited with numerous victories, nay even with the complete subjugation of Ireland, it is clear that his policy was really one of peace and progress, and that he was anxious to maintain peace as the best safeguard for progress by the maintenance of a force sufficient for that purpose, rather than by increasing it to such dimensions as might have overawed his neighbours and rendered it an aggressive one. To be prepared for war is undoubtedly a guarantee for peace; but a naval force exceeding what is necessary for the protection of its shores and commerce is dangerous to the nation which has created it, as other nations then naturally increase their forces, and a rivalry in arms arises, with war for its probable result. Edgar evidently knew where to draw the line, and having secured the safety of his dominions from foreign aggression, he devoted his attention to the improvement of his internal affairs. Thus, to facilitate commerce, all money coined in the kingdom was decreed to be of one kind in its relative value,[486] so far as regards receipts and payments; and the Winchester measures were fixed as the standard of all measures throughout the country. Many restrictions were enforced as to the method of transacting business; and no one was permitted to buy or sell except in the presence of two or more witnesses. Every member of a tithing was required, if he went to a distant market, to inform the borst-holder, not merely what he intended to purchase or dispose of, but on his return to declare into what transactions he had entered. Restrictions, however, which would be ruinous to modern commerce may have been necessary in its infancy. [Sidenote: Ethelred II., A.D. 979-1016. Sufferings of the people.]