A frontiersman recited poetry on the trail and nightly prayed for a happy death.

Evidence

“Jim” shortened the way by repeating a great deal of poetry, and by earnest, reasonable conversation, so that I was quite surprised when it grew dark. He told me that he never lay down to sleep without prayerprayer chiefly that God would give him a happy death. — Isabella L. Bird, A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, 263

Categorization

• QUESTION: What exactly does praying for a ‘happy death’ mean to someone in constant physical danger?