THE DESTRUCTIVE AGENCIES OF NATURE. 165 



eliminated, would leave more scope for the 

 energies of the stronger. 



But eras of rest are no less necessary for 

 progress than eras of destruction. If the 

 destructive agencies were always suspended 

 over man, it is needless to say that no advance 

 in civilisation would be possible. Iceland was 

 originally peopled by the boldest and most 

 enterprising of the Norsemen, but the severity 

 of an almost Arctic climate (which appears, 

 contrary to that of Europe generally, to have 

 increased rather than diminished during the 

 historical period), and the tremendous erup- 

 tions of Hecla and Skapta Jokul, have broken 

 the spirit of the people, and left them mere 

 strugglers for a bare subsistence. On the 

 other hand, the present rapid progress of 

 Central Europe may be attributed in part 

 to its recent immunity from the plague, which 

 has gradually withdrawn itself more and more 

 for the last two hundred years, and now, even 

 in the East, is far less common or destructive 

 than formerly. This cannot be due solely to 

 more healthy habits of life, but probably to 

 changed conditions of climate or atmosphere, 

 which are less favourable to this scourge. 



