4 
The Laws of Nature as Applied to the Affairs of Life. 69 
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coffee beans and a hundred navy beans, mix them together and take them out 
one by one and have him guess what you have, not allowing him to see them 
till you are through (and it would be well that you did not see them your- 
self). Put each kind as he guesses into separate bowls. When he has tried 
this a few times he will have learned this pyschological law, that you cannot 
by any possibility guess right about unknown things more than half the time 
when any considerable number is involved. Now charge him for guessing, a 
quarter of one per cent. (bucket shop price), and he will see at a glance that 
in any event in four hundred deals the innocent commission merchant would 
have all the money, no matter how large his gains may have been at some 
period of the game. 
I could give you many such examples, but one more will suffice; and this is 
addressed to older heads, men of solid sense, men who know all about it, men 
who stand on their feet and consider advice to them superfluous. They have 
made money and know how to do it again. These men often become seized 
with a desire to own a large farm and raise wheat and corn on a large scale. 
They try it and always fail, from the fact that three-fourths of the cereals 
grown in America are raised by the family, who get no wages excepting board 
and clothes. They are free sellers from necessity and make the market. Com- 
petition using hired labor is out of the question. Like the other examples, 
the percentage is against them, It is evidently true and ought to be pro- 
claimed everywhere that the immutable, unchangeable laws are immanent in 
every department of life, and it should be the duty of parents and teachers to 
search for them, not only for themselves, but especially to impart their great 
truths to the plastic youth of the land, compelling them to learn some of these 
fundamental facts. Do not be alarmed at the word compulsion. Nature es- 
tablished compulsory education long ago. She says to man, Some of my laws 
you must learn or I will kill you. You can have your choice of hunger, frost, 
fire or water. They are all the same to me. I care not, whether your diso- 
dience arises from ignorance or intention, as 1am without anger, mercy or 
love; benevolence or malevolence is no part of my business. Obey and you 
live; disobey and I will make you over into other forms. 
To the man in haste she says: Hitch your car to my forces, and I will carry 
you around the earth; sit down in my way, and I will grind you to powder; 
make your bridges good and honest, or [ will hurl mother and child, the 
sweet singer and the hardened criminal to one common destruction; launch 
your boat upon my bosom; set your sails to my breeze, and I will waft you to 
isles of perpetual bloom; but see to it that my laws are not violated in boat, 
captain or crew, or I will leave you a thousand fathoms beneath the sea. 
To the farmer she says: Plant your seed corn according to my order; care 
for it in its infancy, and I will fill your barns with golden ears; I have corn 
and weeds; it is for you to say which you will have. 
To the young man and maiden: Mate yourselves in my ways, and I will 
give you children of joy; disobey and I will send you sons and daughters who 
will make you bow your heads in anguish, and bring you in sorrow to the 
rave. : 
. She says to the benevolent: Distribute the gifts of generous hearts and lov- 
ing souls with great care and solicitude, or I will send you generations of pau- 
pers, who will devour the food intended for your own children. 
To the merchant: Conduct your business in obedience to the laws of trade, 
and you will be rewarded according to your several capacities. 
To the legislator she says: See that you do not run counter to my will in 
making your laws, for disaster may engulf a whole people by the disobedience 
of a few. 
To all, she says: My world is neither good nor bad; the good and evil are 
within you, and you get out of the universe just what you are fitted to 
receive, no more, no less. 
