But at the sad time of which I am trying to write, I was almost an abstainer, from the fear, the temptation--of seeking oblivion in strong waters.

To give way then was to go on giving way.

I realized the danger, and I took stern measures.
Not stern enough, however; for what I did not realize was my weak and nervous state, in which a glass would have the same effect on me as three or four upon a healthy man.
Heaven knows how much or how little I took that evening! I can swear it was the smaller half of either bottle--and the second we never finished--but the amount matters nothing.

Even me it did not make grossly tipsy.

But it warmed my blood, it cheered my heart, it excited my brain, and--it loosened my tongue.