138 EVIDENCE OF DESIGN. 
to a second or third rate sun, while that He should have 
selected this little world for a scene so tremendous and 
so necessarily unique as to sacrifice His own son in 
order to save a portion of these miserable sinners from the 
natural consequences of sins, is in their view a crowning 
absurdity, not to be believed by any rational being.” 
We cannot follow Mr. Wallace’s argument in detail. 
Suffice to say, that he adduces a vast amount of data 
showing, first, that the universe is not infinite, but has 
certain bounds, and that our earth and its system are in 
the center of it, and, secondly, that the entire purpose 
of the production of the universe is the human race. 
The earth, says Wallace, is the only body capable of sus- 
taining life. Life is not possible on any of the planets, 
because they are either too close or too far distant from 
the sun; some are probably composed of gas. \He proves, 
on the basis of accepted calculations, that of all the stars 
in the heavens there is not even a remote probability that 
any are attended by bodies which can provide the elements 
of life. Now, he says, this very peculiar position of the 
earth cannot have been due to accident. He refuses to 
believe that the earth should occupy this favored position 
“as the result of one out of a thousand million chances.” 
“On the other hand,” he says, “those thinkers may be 
right who, holding that the universe is a manifestation 
of mind, and that the orderly development of living souls 
supplies an adequate reason why such a universe should 
have been called into existence, believe that we ourselves 
are its sole and sufficient result and that nowhere else than 
near the central position in the universe which we occupy 
could that result have been attained.” 
This conclusion of Mr. Wallace has, indeed, not found 
acceptance among scientists. Naturally not. If a ma- 
terialistic conception of the universe is to prevail, if evo- 
lution in some form is to be accepted, we must have a uni- 
