164CIVIL WAR HISTORY but J. C. Brand. He had always represented idealism to his grandson but had become something of a cynic before his death in 1887. Whitlock wanted desperately to celebrate his grandfather's virtue, but the dark side was there too and he wouldn't resort to fakery. He could handle a fictional situation like that in Big Matt, in which the political boss goes to jail to save the governor from that fate, because he could understand and sympathize with both. Professor Miller, as I read his introduction, believes Whitlock was unable to summon the same frankness in dealing with his own family and thus could find no way to finish the novel. While this blunder is damaging to the artistic triumph he might have achieved, it in no way diminishes the interest of his picture of life and politics in early Ohio; in this area his talent found one of its happiest outlets . James B. Gidney Kent State University Defender of the Faith: The High Court of Mississippi, 1817-1875. By Meredith Lang. (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1977. Pp. vüi, 176. $10.00.) This book is a disappointment. It is largely concerned with the old, overworked constitutional issues about the nature of government, state rights, secession, the manumission of slaves, and the legal status of the former Confederate states as a result of the Civil War. Slight attention is given to such important local issues as public aid for railroad development, the state's repudiation of the Planters' and Union Bank bonds, and post-Civil War black rights, all of which came to the attention of The High Court. Furthermore, the author ignores the political persuasions of the judges, which, in a state where the judiciary was elective until 1868, were important influences on the decisions of the court. She rarely goes into any of the subtle behind-the-scenes maneuvering that frequently shaped nineteenth century court decisions. The book is based almost exclusively on the printed court reports, a fact that virtually predetermined the author's rather sterile, legalistic approach to the subject. The work also suffers from a lack of historical perspective. For example, the title of the last chapter, "In Purgatory: The High Court and Reconstruction," reflects a negative traditional interpretation of the period that has been repudiated by historians. Nothing in this chapter suggests that the author is familiar with the revisionist scholarship on Reconstruction. Errors of historical fact also mar the study. The Dred Scott decision , she records, was handed down in 1858 and Texas v. White in 1868. She apparently assumes that the "alien" High Court ap- BOOK REVIEWS165 pointées of General Ord, the district commander under Congressional Reconstruction, continued on the bench until the end of the Reconstruction era. Actually, these judges—the majority of whom were old citizens of the state—were replaced in 1870 by appointees of Governor Alcorn. These men served with distinction until 1876. The only significant contribution of the book is in its discussion of the Mississippi High Court's decisions protecting the minimum rights of slaves in criminal proceedings. This policy contrasted sharply with the court's hostility toward manumission. The difference arose because Mississippians, including members of the court, did not view- the Negro in slavery as a threat to society, whereas in freedom he was potentially "an alien enemy" who, without the restraints imposed by the slave institution, might incite rebellion. Indeed, in criminal law, as interpreted by the High Court, the slave emerged by the late ante-bellum period as a person; in civil matters he was still defined as chattel. In practice, however, the court had few opportunities to demonstrate this distinction, since most criminal infractions by slaves were handled outside the judicial system. William C. Harris North Carolina State University The Civil War Sketchbook of Charles Ellery Stedman, Surgeon, United States Navy. By Jim Dan Hill. (San Rafael: Presidio Press, 1976. Pp. xvii + 218. $25.00.) The artist whose life and work are this book's subject was a Massachusetts physician turned naval surgeon. He did sea duty from 1862 to 1865 on a steam corvette and on a monitor, blockading and supporting invasions of...