The author, who campaigned against duelling wrote three tales to that end, one of which was entitled: Female Influence
Commencing with a Preface on Duelling, entitled Mistaken Principles the three tales were entitled as follows:
Clara (19) and Maria Bayfield were the daughters of a wealthy merchant, who resided in a pleasant village, near one of our largest seaports. In Maria, the author could well have been picturing herself.
............ Maria was the elder sister, by ten or more years; and yet, I hardly know why it is, I always name Clara first, so did everybody who spoke of them. Maria was the cleverer also, and the better of the two: but she was some what grave, and almost plain in person, and people always thought and spoke of the handsome, dashing Clara before the steady, gentle, useful Maria.
Clara - for after all, I am going to describe her first, in spite of myself - Clara was somewhat tall and commanding person, with rich, dark locks, regular features, and ever flashing expressive black eyes. Her manner was said, by many of her admirers, to be a mixture of the gay and the dignified, the soft and the brilliant; and they always summed up the catalogue of her attractions by saying, "Altogether she is the most fascinating girl I ever met with". She was witty, self-assured, ingenious, and musical - can it then be surprising that she was admired. But there was something more in Clara than all this. Her mind was as lively and restless as her eyes. High spirited and courageous, she was always ready for an adventure, a flirtation, or a romance, whether in print or reality. She was just the fine, clever creature that we lament to see wasting its power of mind and of action on useless, nay, injurious frivolities.
Maria was an exact contrast to her sister. She was neither tall nor short, neither sad nor joyous, her hair was of a medium brown, her complexion of a medium white. Her whole appearance and manners were mediocre, but this mediocrity did not enter her mind. She had a clear and intelligent intellect, refined and well cultivated; she was anxious for mental improvement, fond of books, of quiet thought, and of sound reasoning, and possessed of a large share of that scarce treasure, common sense, a quality in which Clara was fully deficient. Still, Maria lacked "one thing that was needful". Well disposed and amiable, she was only just not religious. She had a kind of devout admiration for the Christian religion, but she had not imbibed its principles She was kind and benevolent from a natural impulse, and while Clara was the belle of the neighbouring town, Maria was the favourite of the quiet village where they dwelt. All her friends sought her advice, and while they admired and caressed Clara, they respected and loved Maria.
........... In the duel, the son of the family shoots into the air, while his opponent shoots him in the right hand, causing amputation of his arm from the elbow, following which turn of events, he is doomed to a useless life, while his opponent finds that his fiancé will no longer marry him, a duellist.