But perhaps he is a friend of yours ?' 'Oh no!' 'Well, I wasn't going to abuse him.

I was only going to ask: Is there any quality which distinguishes his work from that of twenty struggling writers one could name?
Of course not.

He's a clever, prolific man; so are they.

But he began with money and friends; he came from Oxford into the thick of advertised people; his name was mentioned in print six times a week before he had written a dozen articles.

This kind of thing will become the rule.