10. Dunstan persuaded the kings and rich noblemen, to rebuild the monasteries that had been plundered and destroyed by the Danes, and endow them with lands; so that, at last, nearly one-third of all the landed property in the kingdom belonged to the clergy. 11. There was a king named Edgar, the fourth after Athelstan, who did many useful things for the country; and, among others, he thought of a plan to destroy the wolves, which were so numerous in all the forests, that the people were in constant alarm for the safety of their sheep, and even of their little children. 12. Edgar, therefore, ordered that each of the princes of Wales, who had to pay tribute to the kings of England, should send, instead of money, three hundred wolves’ heads every year; so they were obliged to employ huntsmen to go into the woods to kill those dangerous animals, which were so generally destroyed in a few years that they have seldom been found in England ever since. 13. Then Edgar kept the Danes away by having as many as three hundred and sixty vessels always ready for service; but, when he and Dunstan were dead the navy was neglected; and the country was again overrun with those terrible enemies, who fought with the English every where, robbed them of their property, took their houses for themselves, and acted just as if they were the conquerors and lords of the land. 14. At last, the Danish king, Sweyn, landed with a great army, and began a dreadful war with Ethelred, who was then king of England, that lasted about four years, in the course of which he and Ethelred both died; but the war was continued by Canute, the son of Sweyn, and with such success, that, in the end, he was crowned king of England. 15. It was lucky for the English that Canute happened to be a wise and good prince; for he said to himself, “As I am now king of these people, I will behave kindly to them, that they may love me, and then we shall go on comfortably together.” So he began to repair the mischief that had been done in the late wars, by setting people to work to rebuild the towns that had been destroyed; which was soon done in those days, when the houses were so roughly built, and only of wood. 16. He also made a law that the Danes should not rob and insult the English, as they had been in the habit of doing; and ordered that they should obey the other laws of the country; which he did not alter in the least; neither did he interfere with the estates of the nobles, nor with their rights over their vassals; and he consulted with the Witanagemote, or Parliament, in all affairs of importance. 17. This Parliament was composed of the great nobles and the bishops, so that it was like our House of Lords; and, when the king made a new law, the people were not obliged to obey it, until it had been approved by the Witanagemote.