James could not live with the guilt and seeing Oliver made him question his identity outside of the theater too much. If James did not commit suicide, the tragedy is more complex-James and Oliver will never have a happy ending, everyone thinks he is dead, and Oliver has to live with the fact that James might be alive and chose to leave his entire life behind after Oliver repeatedly sacrificed himself.
If James did commit suicide, the tragedy is simple-someone died, that is sad.
Whether James is alive or not, the story is still a tragedy. (view spoiler) [I ponder with this but the way I think about it is as such: That's just how I'd like to think of it (hide spoiler)] He hasn't yet been absolved from the guilt, but he's no longer plagued by it to the point of incapacitation and hasn't run away either (or he'd not have written Oliver that letter) so, James is just away from the place (like a sparrow) that would allow him and his newer personality to stay afloat without crumbling every single moment of his life. So, to flout it and die wouldn't be something he'd do. James isn't a coward so what stops him from confession is respect for Oliver's decision.
What Oliver did was because he was equally guilty of Richard's death indirectly if not directly (by stopping James from jumping in the water) and the reason he took James' stead in prison was because he knew as much. Yes it's true, staying alive, somehow absolved from that guilt is unlike James' character, yet one basic principle of life, as even reflected through this passage is people change and especially when you don't know what to do, how to live, 'want teaches you to think on' Dying of James would honestly be a disservice to Oliver. (view spoiler) [I would say yes, not just because of the parallel that's been drawn between pericles and his wife's story, it's also because of what's been said in the passage- " What I have been, I forgot to know But what I am, want teaches me to think on"
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