Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-10-26
THE TRLFAIRs AGAIN.
An Interesting Social Incidental Young
Man Who was Offended at Slight
Correction


Correction.
From the "reminiscences Of az Artist.
Before going any further IN these re-
miniseences 1 must say that in any re-
marks. favorable or unfavorable, to the
past, do not mean to make any cOmparl-
son between it and the present, because l
am really so ignorant of the changes that
have taken place in half century as 10
be unable to form any opinion on so deli
cate subject as manners and customs,
which change with times. But this may
say, after very short period Of obserYa-
ton, that remarkable as the women OF
Savannah were in the ''Olden time" Tor
modesty in manner. conversation and cos
tune. their successors in the streets ana
in the churches are not at all unlike
them apparently. while even an old
mans prepOssessiOns in favor OF the beau
~ Of person and brightness OF intellect
which distinguished those ''gone and Tor
ever" TO that "bOurne from when no
traveller returns" cannot lead MIN TO ue-
tect any falling off that the eye can dis
cover. 1t would be iuYidlOuS TO name
those who were eminent among many, but
it Will not be out of place TO say, for the
encouragement of the rising generation,
who may not possess the fatal gift o.
beauty" that externally the three
Telfair sisters were not beautiful.
One was pretty, amiable and lntelll-
gent; another was possessed OF face
which, when fixed upon canvas, was
said to be Cerg like, but reTg mach nat
tered which .fdttery is generallT due en-
tirely to the artists skill in drawing out
any fixed beauty that lies deeper than the
skin }, while the manners and intelligence
of the third made those who could apDre-
ciate and enjoy her conversation and
friendly unreserYe forget all else to feel,
and afterward to wonder at, the fascina-
ton exercised over them by her. Miss
Mary, especially, was imbued with the
poetic and artistic spirit, and possessed
a fund of curious and interesting ira
ditiOnal, mythical and antiquarian lore,
so that, while the spirit Of the ancient
TrOubadOufs remained in the breasts of
the descendants of the cavaliers and
HuguenOts, il is not wonderful that there
were youth in Savannah who looked to
her and her like as did 'Dunois, the young
and brave" to the Virgin Mary,
when he prayed before her shrine
SO grant, immortal Queen of Heaven,
That may prove the bravest brave,
Beloved by fairest fair!"-
nor that said youth in the late war for
the preservation of State autonomy proved
that If they had the heart and the song of
the siioyous brotherhood for the fair,
they could well weld the Slg0rd in their
defense!
And surely none had a higher appre-
citation of the natural qualities of our
Southern youth, nor patriotic in feeling,
felt more deeply our apparent decadence
in pFOrincidLSm to the North and to
Europe in all science, art, and mechani-
cal and manufacturing resources. In
my last interview with her in Augusta
during the war, she asked if | thought
that even "our political independence
would emancipate us from provincial de-
pendenceP'
/ have said that the elder Misses Tel
fair were fair representatives of the ladies
of their zine, and, therefore, it is to be
expected that Miss Margaret, the younger,
should have acquired from constant in
tercOurse with them something of their
manners. The consequence was that in
the privacy of domestic intercourse there
was none of that artificial bearing which
she was sometimes obliged to assume
towards strangers and to her mere draw
iny-roOm acquaintances. To understand
this, it is necessary to say that the circle of
Savannah society in which she moved
was remarkable for its absence of rivalry
and gossipry, its freedom from personal
allusions and its cordiality-going,
generally, only properly short Of
familiarity. This cordiality existed
notably among the families of the ante
Revolutionary generation, but it extended
naturally to those of later date, and espe-
cially to strangers. Among these, natives
as we'll as strangers, there were individu-
ais who appeared not to understand this
unusual state of things, and therefore
there were occasional approaches to ia
miliarity which were distastefui to our
ladies, especially TO the elder ones, who
were invariably present in large proper
ton at all our parties. These considered
ing, familiarity as vulgar, and the
raise the abomination of desolatiOn!
In this last respect they were
not singular, for Lord Byron, author of
tsDon Juan' and ''Beppo," thought it a
horror introduced from the camps by the
demi-monde of Paris, and wrote poem in
reprObation of it. Even the grave and
stately Spanish dance was merely tOler-
ated.
Among our fashionable youth of the
time was a student Of law, an intelligent.
pleasant fellow, only son of a revolution
ary distinguished father, and we'll received
by all. His manners were perfectly good
but a little bluff, while his portly pei son
gave him an air of selt-impOrtance which
he really did not feel. At party one
evening he approached Miss Margaret, in
tending to Invite her to dance, and began:
s1Miss Margaret" when she interrupted
him with quiet "Mr. W., Miss Ietfdir, if
you please" At this he drew himself
up to his full height and replied: $50 be
it! Mss IelTdir it shall always
be hereafter!" and then bowling very low
he turned on his heel and strobe away.
This drew the attention of the whole CON-
pany on him, and the cause was soon
known to every one in the room. At this
remote time cannot be sure that was
an edY-witness to this scene (please, gentle
reader, to know and hereafter to recollect
that one of my grandmOthers was an
Irishman), but / recOllect that soon fol-
lowed him to the piazza, where be was
walking with swelling breast and flash
ing eye, and addressed him thus: Shy
George! w. W, you served her eX-
acsly right" He stopped. and with his
thumbs ii vest agm-holes, faced me
squarely and almost detiantly. eyes,"
continued, ''you served her
exactly right. But, my dear fellow,
how such wit as you are,
the world w. had scarcely been out of
Savannah J, how such a wOman-killer let
slip such an opportunity for securing the
largest fortune and iairest lady in SaYan-
nahv
'tFortune and lady be hanged!" said he,
81 wouldn't have her if she were to throw
herself at my head! Humphp
EsThat she will never do" said l, tartly;
''but how g0a lost such an opportunity to
retaliate upon her. and turn the tables on
her to your entire benefit and credit as
the imperturbable man OF the world, l
cannot conceive"
'sAnd can't conceive how could have
done it better than did. How should l
have done it?'
s'Ol l do not say how you should have
done it, but think W@uld have done it
thus:
"'Ah, fair lady! how little do you know
what there is in name, or why l call
YOU by your christian rather than by your
surnamel Margaret means ''pearl," and
1 never gaze on your fair face and softly
beaming eyes that l do not think Of
MOore's lines
stNo pearl ever lay under Oman's green water
More pure in Its shell than thy spirit in thee
And how different the image that rises at
the name Telfair in the form of the gigan-
tic Crusader who split helms and cut
through maces with such ease that the
name of Taliaferro, "the cutter of iron,"
has descended from the Middle Ages as
ToLlicer in Virginia to 1elfdir in Geor-
gia! Which, now, shall L call you!
Or you might have gone on and said: Il
even prefer the associations OF ideas con-
nected with the pearl to those that arise
from the tradition which tells of the brave
warrior and noble minstrel, who sung the
song of sERoland'' with such effect at the
battle OF Hastings that 1t was said the VIC
- nc &c CuipU RI the pnth1ISi aSm