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The tendency
called instinct, which impels the
mother bird to turn its young out
of the nest, so soon as they have
sufficient strength to fly, and the
animal in weaning its young to turn
them adrift and leave them to shift
for themselves, is founded on the
natural and divine laws. We may say
it is the custom of the brutes and
is therefore "brutal." But
would it be a kindness for the bird
to encourage the young to stay in
the nest where it could not gain strength,
and when a few weeks will bring the
storms and severity of winter, which
the parent bird itself cannot withstand?
Again, the parent, be it bird, animal,
or human mother, needs after these
periods of bringing their young into
the world and rearing them, a season
of entire rest and recuperation, and
the duration of such resting season
should be proportionate to the complexity
of the organization and the force
expended by such organization. During
such periods, the parent should be
freed from any and all demands from
the child. Birds and animals in their
natural or wild life take such periods
of rest. But thousands of human mothers
are never free from the demands of
their children, until worn out they
drop into their graves. They should
be as free, so far as their children
a concerned, as they were in girlhood,
and before they became mothers. Motherhood
is a most necessary and an indispensable
phase of existence for ripening and
developing qualities. But no one experience
should be followed and dwelt in forever.
Life in its more perfected state will
be full of alterations--not a rut,
into which if you are once set you
must continually travel.If human
children remain with the mother for
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