Jefferson Davis, as humane a man as ever lived, had said that emancipation must mean extermination of slaves...*
Catton has a dry, subtle sense of humor occasionally...but he's serious here. "As humane a man as ever lived"--Jeff Davis, slave owner! Jeff-Emancipation=extermination-Davis! Slavery defender and protector Jeff Davis: "as humane a man as ever lived"! I can't get over it, no matter how many times I read and re-read it. I even looked up the definition to see if there was some arcane meaning I had never heard of. No. I tried to think of another word if humane was a misprint: "urbane"? That could be. I could see Davis being described as "urbane". The context is still bizarre but not as bizarre as "humane" makes it. HuMONGous misprint if that's what it is.
*Never Call Retreat, Parting of the Red Sea Waves, "The Land of Cotton," 72.
