By this we do not mean that it is worn, or likely to be worn beforein saying which the word "before" is not used by us in its acceptation of previously, but in that of front; although, now that we come to think of it, the chignon certainly has been worn before, as may be seen by consulting old-fashioned prints, in which it is shown worn behind.

These, although not of such paramount importance and universal acceptation as the Old Charges and the Thirty-nine Regulations, are, nevertheless, of great value as the means of settling many disputed questions, by showing what was the law and usage of the fraternity at the times in which they were adopted.

Were it not authenticated by the most undeniable testimonies, it would appear incredible that the impostures of the disciples of Aesculapius, and the common faith in his regenerative powers, should have survived with equal potency and acceptation during the ages immediately succeeding the Christian era.

This kind of superstition was in no less acceptation than the former among the ancients, whose temples were constantly crowded with the sick, and reverberated with their supplications for divinatory dreams, which were regarded as an immediate gift from the gods.