condition of the faculties;—in fact, meontal liberty is simply the power of freely exercising the faculties of understanding and will.
What we call Reason, or the rational understanding, is peculiar to man, and distinguishes him from the brute creation. It is an effect of the peculiar constitution of man's mind. The human mind is composed of different ranges, or stories, as they might be called, one above another. These ranges or stories are the spiritual mind and the natural mind—the former being above, the latter beneath. And these divisions or compartments are quite distinct. By the latter, the natural mind, man looks downward and outward to the world of nature: by the former, the spiritual mind, man is able to look inward and upward to heaven and to God. Now this is the great and essential distinction between man and the lower animals. The latter have not two mental stories or regions, but only one, namely, the lower or natural mind. Hence they cannot look otherwise than outward and downward, never Upward or inward. Consequently, they are incapable of devotion or worship,—of knowing or loving God, their Creator. They merely look downward to earth, and have sufficient understanding, or instinct (as more properly called), to seek for food and such other things as are needed to supply their few animal wants. And for the same reason, their souls are not immortal, like man's, since they have no capacity of looking up to and loving and thus being conjoined with God; and it is conjunctLon of spirit with God, or the capacity for such conjunction, that gives immortality. Consequently, with the death of the body, their animal life is dissipated. But man, having a life above animal life,—
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