than is done by
the present rubric the proper places for the introduction of the
Prayers and the Thanksgivings, providing for the use of the former
before, and of the latter after the General Thanksgiving.

As to the deficiencies in this department let the late Dr. Muhlenberg
speak.

"The Prayer Book," he says, "is not undervalued as to its treasures
in asserting its wants. The latter cannot be denied. Witness the
meagre amount of New Testament prayer and praise for the round of
festivals and fasts; the absence of any forms suited to the peculiar
circumstances of our own Church and country and to the times we
live in; or for our benevolent and educational institutions. There
are no prayers for the increase of Ministers, for Missions, or
Missionaries, for the Christian teaching of the young; for sponsors
on occasions of Baptism; for persons setting out on long journeys
by land, quite as perilous as voyages by sea; for the sick desiring
the prayers of the Church when there is no prospect of or desire
for recovery; for the bereaved at funerals, and many other occasions
for which there might as well be provision as for those few for
which we already have the occasional prayers."[28]

After the _Prayers and Thanksgivings_ come _The Collects, Epistles,
and Gospels _. Here again there is some room for enrichment.
Distinctive collects for the first four days of Holy Week, for
Monday and Tuesday in Easter Week, and for Monday and Tuesday in
Whitsun Week, would add very materially to our liturgical wealth,
while there would seem to be no reason whatever why they should
not be had. It would also serve to enhance the symmetry of the
Christian Year if the old feast of the Transfiguration[29] (August
6) were to be restored to its place among the recognized holy days
of the Church and given its proper collect, epistle, and gospel.

There are some liturgists who desire the restoration of the introits
of the First Book of Edward VI. The introit (so called from being
the psalm sung when the priest goes within the altar-rails) has
been in modern usage replaced by a metrical hymn. A sufficient
reason for not printing the introit for each day in full, just
before the collect, as was the mode in Edward's Book, is that to
do so would involve a costly sacrifice of room. A compromise course
would be to insert between the title of each Sunday or holyday and
the collect proper to it, a simple numerical reference stating
whereabouts in the