captain (by whom may be presumed yacht owner) was to bring any stranger to the club, unless he should lie at the captain's house the night before,'save and except in the case of the admiral of the club, who, it appears, amongst other absolute powers, possessed the right of inviting whom he pleased. This exclusiveness may, doubtless, have been strictly consonant with the manners and customs of the Irish gentlemen of the day, who, whilst they were proverbially hospitable, and lavishly generous, might still have been, and doubtless were, delicately sensitive of any infringement of class or position. This may, in some measure, account for the requirement that a visitor to the club should sleep at the house of the member who introduced him upon the night previous to his introduction, thus proving a guarantee of his eligibility to be brought amongst them. The spirit of hospitality, to which we have before alluded, appears to have been highly cherished and amply developed amongst the members of the Water Club, as we find in Rule No. 2 'That no Admiral do bring more than two dishes of meat for the entertainment of the club.' From this, however, we are not to infer that two dishes made up the entertainment, as in Rule 15 we find that 'the members of the club were to entertain in course of seniority (if in the kingdom), or appoint a deputy, upon due notice of his turn for entertaining having arrived being served on him by the secretary, upon pain of expulsion.' It appears that the Island of Hawlboline was under the charge of an officer elected from time to time, under title of
