A kinetic study is reported on nucleophilic substitution reactions of 4-nitrophenyl isonicotinate (7) with a series of cyclic secondary amines in MeCN. The plots of $k_{obsd}$ vs. [amine] curve upward for the reactions with weakly basic amines (e.g., morpholine, 1-(2-hydroxyethyl)piperazine, and piperazine) but are linear for those with strongly basic amines (e.g., piperidine and 3-methylpiperidine). The curved plots for the reactions with the weakly basic amines are typical for reactions reported previously to proceed through uncatalyzed and catalyzed routes with two intermediates (e.g., a zwitterionic tetrahedral intermediate $T^{pm}$ and its deprotonated form $T^-$). In contrast, the linear plots for the reactions with the strongly basic amines indicate that the catalytic route (i.e., the deprotonation process to yield $T^-$ from $T^{pm}$ by a second amine molecule) is absent. The Br${o}$nsted-type plots for $Kk_2$ and $Kk_3$ (i.e., the rate constants for the uncatalyzed and catalyzed routes, respectively) exhibit excellent linear correlations with ${eta}_{nuc}$ = 0.99 and 0.69, respectively. The effect of amine basicity on the reaction mechanism is discussed in detail.