The mountain Democrat., 1863-11-14
From Chamber Journal.
SECOND RIDDLES.

men is the Second Fiddle. Even those
who play upon it themselves, now and
thcR-and even Oftener--no sooner per.
ceive il in the hands Of another performer,
than they cannot conceal their contempt
for it: it is not his execution that they
find fault with, for, indeed, the better he
understands his calling, the more they
Snecr, but that he should make Use ul that
channel of melody at all. They pcIt HIM
openly with u number Of opprohriuu>
naIneS-T0ady, Snob, ,Fawner, ,Syc"phant /;
they whisper to one anothcr still worse
epithetS, for which they are indebted to
the venerable Dean Swift; and at every
note he evokcS from his un retention,
violin, they nudge one another's elbows
N"w, although, for my own part, have
always played upon an independent little
JewSharp Of my own, without aspiring to
the instrument in question, yet | cannot
withhold my admiration from the per.
formers upon the second fiddle. Not only
are they the most diIigcnt aud pcr>rvt =
ng 81 all social musicians, unahashed hv
fai ure, and il unhappily out of tune with
their leader. endeavnring to remedy that
dtfrct with al mcekneSS; hut there j.
s"mcthing pathetic, in my cyc>, III their
drspi>cd calling. There Is vulgar look g.
ing person with a Pans. pipe but not
healIhiiy ulgar, only mean h0 accom-
panlP> Punch'S theatre, and does what he
can with his commonplaces To rob that
Now and then, he asks Mr.. Punch II
question, and elicIts in reply n singing
epigram, in high fal>cttn, from the poIu-
lar iavuiitc, which sinks him lower tnan
ever IN pubic opinion. This d,gradru
hclng. however, collie, Is the mrn, " hirh
Is pad hy the spectators, and d"uhtl -
keeps some Of it for himself; whereas the
musicians ] have in my mInd receive con.
. tempt without reward. All the money,
n vel aS the dulation, is paid directly
, t" the principal pc'i"rmrr; it never
t"u les The hand of him of the second
fiddle even in transitu. There is surely
something touching IN this labor without
pay or praise !; in these struggles without
any acknowledgement! 1t is not to be
supposed, OF course, that the pubic
should g. into raPtures with efforts which i,
it is we'll understood, are directed solely
To please the first fiddle; but when HE
eIinceS no satisflrtlon-a and he scarcely
ever doeS-l confess it makes nv heart
bleed, ] am sure that if any Q, ntl' mau
~"Ild give himself up, soul aud body, t"
the task Of making hiuI>elt agreeable t."
me, that | should be at least allihlc and
c"udr>ccndInG. Ii he n,%rr coftradirtd Il
me, and was always Sansuiuc about what
was going TO happen. and c"ntiuua'ly cX
pressed his briiet that was the most IA
morou, writer now awe, | f., ! certain
shuuii smile upon him in return. nrv.
q had but one admirer, n poi trr.dog OF
the name "f jock, but ! fully reciprn
Gated his uudrser. ei e>tcrm; wound rot
have rcjccfrd hi> sil"ilc mcth"d> OF IN
Irat'atlrn tor great zeal OF m"ll,y his
dear old jaws used TO Lc>tlr in my h, Il
wai>tcuatS and s,obhrr them without the
least reproof. When he died, | wrote lis
critaph, and the esteemed relative t.
whom be belonged had the same engraved
upon t"mhstone. at an expense which,
" hen the bill came in, ! believe, a liule
aS,oni>hcd her. had uathing to do with
that. Neither my actions nor nv feelings
with regard to that departed dog have
given me since the least unra>incsS. lIr
faithfully played the second fiddle, and
was truly grateful to him for the accom-.
pauIincnt.
This gratitude is, however, far from
common. | have had the misfortune To
meet certain literary person more than
once, whom TO name Wuull he IL oti d.
Let any reader ii up the hiatus with any
rI,vate emmy OF his own who writ'> tor
brad aud butter. This gentleman lived
attcI his time; | say, lived" for, tx
ccI'ting III the SENSE in which gcnIrl> j.
SAID To he immortal, he lives no Iouger-
lie ought To have br, n the cont nrporalN
"i Savage, but am sorry to say tie Wa
mine instead. lie was born to h ctor il,
a pot-hOuSc, and accomplished lis role
whenever the opportunity occurred; aui
when it did nut occur, he generally man
aged 10 make the opportunity. Ia liquor,
the subjects of his conversation wcr"
three: his family, his literary works, ,and
hlm>rIf; out of iiquor-but aS ] only met
him twice, | should have bccu fortunate
indeed to have seen him in that con.i
ton | only speak Of what | saw. Re-
markable as this man was for the above
attributes Considering the epoch in which
he tiDnrished), he was stli more n"tcWur-
thv from the number of SECOND iiIdlcS
which always waited upon him. II, he
ing deserted by the gods, 1t struck YOU
to ask this professor OF the bellies httrr>
to dinncr.t the invitation had to he extend.
ed To certain lieutenantS. Egoti>,ic as he
WAS, he could not perpetrate his solo with
out the assistance Of their sweet voices. -
They led the conversation into an an,.rs-
ira! channel, which introduced his fanllN;
they diSc0urSed Of literature, which III.
tr"duced his works; and finally, they
prorosrd his health, which introduced
himself Conceive n johnson, filled, not
with genius. hut with whisky, and "hrn't
out" hy several BnsWells l he humlIia-
les. host, and gue>tS-ol course EXTENDED
to myself; but amid my buShr>, did
entertain sentiment Of pity for the mis-
cradle led captains" That od.world
title admirably suited with their c0ndi-
ton. They were treated by their lord
and master with a brutality only to be
parallclrd in the manners Of two rentu.
ries ago. In the very act of subservience,
they were snubbed by the voice of him
to whom they rendered homage; they
bent before him, and he set his foot upon
their necks protest that sympathetic
shudder communicated itself to my own
vertebre. could have forgiven the man
his vulgar braggadocio | could have
placed his state of intoxication as set-off
against his bad manners; but when III
his egotistic frenzy he tore his very para
sites from their hoid, and ground them
with his heel, as they still clung, as it
were, about his ankles, then gave the