Jack the Fisherman — Elizabeth Stuart Phelps

Elizabeth Stuart Phelps has devoted this "thin memorial volume" to the history of "Jack the Fisherman," which, like most of her tales, is tender and pathetic, and its realism, though terribly tragical, is not offensive.
Poor jack is an hereditary drunkard. At the age of twelve he is brought home dead drunk on a "bob-sled." He has many glimpses of better things, and often says and believes he is quite "reformed." But alas "Qui a bu boira." The poor wretch goes from bad to worse, till his miserable career ends in murder and suicide.
-"The Westminster Review," Volume 128