ABSTRACT
There is such a thing as an aristocracy or privileged order in letters, which has sometimes excited the author's wonder, and sometimes his spleen, We meet with authors who have never done any thing, but who have a vast reputation for what they could have done. Their names stand high, and are in everybody's mouth, but their works are never heard of, or had better remain undiscovered for the sake of their admirers. There are whole families who are born classical, and are entered in the heralds' college of reputation by the right of consanguinity. There is the Burney family. The name is alone a passport to the Temple of Fame. The founder of it was himself an historian and a musician, but more of a courtier and man of the world than either.
