This may be an exaggeration--it would be a singular report were it not--but it can be relied upon as sufficiently truthful for all practical purposes.
Then there came a day when he did see a reason for not getting drunk.

He signed no pledge, he took no oath.

He said, "I will never touch another drop of drink," and for twenty-six years he kept his word.
At the end of that time a combination of circumstances occurred that made life troublesome to him, so that he desired to be rid of it altogether.
He was a man accustomed, when he desired a thing within his reach, to stretch out his hand and take it.

He reviewed the case calmly, and decided to commit suicide.
If the thing were to be done at all, it would be best, for reasons that if set forth would make this a long story, that it should be done that very night, and, if possible, before eleven o'clock, which was the earliest hour a certain person could arrive from a certain place.
It was then four in the afternoon.

He attended to some necessary business, and wrote some necessary letters.