In the olden time the Bible formed the chief reading of Christian congregations, and the pulpit occupied the place of power in popular instruction. This is now changed. The newspaper, the magazine, the popular novel, the multitudinous products of the press, crowd the Bible from its former place even in religious families, and the platform and the press rival the pulpit as vital educative forces in guiding and controlling popular thought. It is useless to declaim against this; it is one of the great facts of providence connected with our age and life; but the wise pastor will carefully consider what he can do to control this inevitably potent force of the press, and make it a help instead of a hindrance to his work; for with proper supervision this vast power may be made a most beneficent auxiliary to the pulpit. Here I suggest: 1. The pastor should aim to secure in every family a good religious newspaper. This is a matter of primary moment, for such a paper is an ever-present force, educating religious thought and feeling and enriching and elevating practical life. Most pastors would be startled, on making the inquiry, to find how few families in their congregation take a religious paper, and how many are taking only trashy and often morally poisonous publications, the habitual reading of which must utterly neutralize the instruction and influence of the pulpit. The magazine and newspaper are the habitual reading of the family circle; and the pastor who fails to exercise watchful care in regard to the character of this reading will often find it one of the most destructive forces at work among his people.