But there is a class of minds who have access to the religious press, and can more or less control its action, who are far above such humiliating littleness and dishonesty. In regard to these, such are the influence of education and long‐trained habits of thought, that an entire change of a _whole system_ must be a gradual process. And when sermons, lectures, books and pulpit ministries have all been in accordance with one system, they can not be modified to meet another without many practical difficulties. Nor can men, whose professional associations with ecclesiastical bodies and with parishes impede them, settle many practical questions involved in any change of views, without demanding _time_ for reflection, examination and consultation. In this position of affairs in the religious world, a measure of retention, and even of protracted silence, in many cases, may be wise and justifiable. And charges of compromise, or of cowardice, or of intellectual deficiency, in such cases, would be false, ungenerous and unjust. All this should be taken into account in judging of the future action of those who control the religious periodicals and literature. What the Secular Press will do? The answer to this question is much more clear than the preceding one, inasmuch as the secular press, to a great extent, is free from the embarrassments that restrain the religious press. It has become so manifest that the great body of the people are determined to enjoy perfect liberty of conscience, and to defend the right of free discussion in religion and morals, as well as in politics, that it is clearly for the interests of editors, not committed to sectarianism, to uphold these rights. The distinguished popularity and success of that Daily which now boasts the largest circulation in the nation, is a most significant fact. Its career began long before the religious world had its distinctive tenets rudely assailed by any but ecclesiastical hands, and long before the secular press ventured to bring its common‐sense maxims to bear on religious topics. Single‐handed, it fearlessly opened its columns to discussions on Fourierism, women’s rights, intemperance, slavery, religious doctrines, and all other matters that concerned the public weal, giving every party a fair chance to speak for itself. The religious world took the lead in the outcry and alarm against this course. But _the people_, and even a large proportion of the _religious people_, sustained this attempt at fair and free discussion, so honestly and fearlessly pursued, until the battle was fairly won. And now it is probable that the larger proportion of the most candid and intelligent editors of the secular press perceive that their pecuniary interests, in regard to free religious discussion, are in the same direction as their reason and conscience.