BOOK REVIEWS
Segments of Southern Thought. By Edd Winfield Parks. (Athens,
The University of Georgia Press, 1938.
392p.)
This aptly titled volume was one of the
first to be issued by
the University of Georgia Press,
recently established to care for
the literary output of southern thinkers
and writers on subjects of
regional interest and importance.
Admittedly informal, the articles which
compose the book are
written from a point of view which the
author calls the "distributist-
agrarian" one, and are, in effect,
essays in the re-evaluation of
southern life and literature, both old
and new. Written for specific
reasons and in general printed elsewhere
before included in this
volume, these studies are essentially
occasional pieces, though
the consistency of viewpoint which they
exhibit and the orderly
sequence of their arrangement give them
a certain unity.
The book is divided into three parts,
only two of which are
pertinent to the theme of the book as a
whole, since Eugene
O'Neill and George Borrow, of whom Parks
writes in Part
Three, can in no sense be classed as
southerners. Part One deals
with the general aspects of southern
life, with special emphasis
on the factors contributing to the
development of its literature,
while Part Two is made up of
biographical sketches of six per-
sons identified in various ways with the
southern scene: Frances
Wright, the social reformer who in the
days prior to the War
between the States made an unsuccessful
attempt to establish
at Nashoba, Tennessee, a colony to
educate and emancipate negro
slaves; the beloved Tennessee
schoolmaster Sawney Webb;
Walter Hines Page, who believed (and
Parks thinks wrongly)
that southern progress would inevitably
follow in the wake of
education and industrialization; and
three writers--Sut Lov-
ingood, Richard Malcolm Johnston, and
Mark Twain--each of
(271)
272 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
whom in his own way served as
interpreter of the South to the
world at large.
Eminently readable, Parks's book is to
be valued as an ex-
pression of the views of an educated,
traveled, and intelligent
person. His comments on southern
locales, traditions, and aspira-
tions are illuminating and penetrating;
they reflect his apprecia-
tion of his sectional background as well
as his interest in the
present and his hope for the future of
his region. His book also
has significance because it defines
lines of investigation in hith-
erto neglected fields of southern
thought and life which can,
with profit, be explored further by
writers interested in following
the lead here set.
Physically the book is attractive, and
its contents bear the
impress of a thoughtful, scholarly mind,
although its appeal
should be general rather than academic.
L. R. H.
Whiskey Rebels: the Story of a
Frontier Uprising. By Leland D.
Baldwin. (Pittsburgh, University of
Pittsburgh Press,
1939. 326p.)
This volume is further evidence of the
high attainment of
the University of Pittsburgh Press. That
two of the half-dozen
volumes issued since its beginning have
been selected among the
fifty best books of the year by the
American Institute of Graphic
Arts speaks for their excellence in
editing, selection of paper,
type, binding and illustrations. The
author of Whiskey Rebels is
the editor of the University of
Pittsburgh Press and was for-
merly associated with the Western
Pennsylvania Historical Sur-
vey. The book is well-written and
readable and all the available
sources have been so exhaustively
studied that in the reviewer's
opinion this will stand as the
definitive work on this subject.
Henry Steele Commager writing a review
of this volume in
the New York Herald Tribune (May
7, 1939) says that "although
BOOK REVIEWS 273
the story of the Whiskey Insurrection in
Western Pennsylvania
may be considered only 'an obscure
chapter' in American history
it is comparable in its significance and
implications to Bacon's
Rebellion and Shay's Rebellion of an
earlier day, and to the
Populist revolt of more recent
times." The chief value of whiskey
to the frontier farmer was as a
commodity. He raised rye but
could not afford to ship it across the
mountains to eastern markets.
The result was its distillation into
whiskey and its shipment to
market in that form. To small
distillers, upon whom an excise tax
was a real burden, and to people who
remembered all too well
the Revolutionary protest against taxes,
this seemed quite as bad.
These democratic people of the West were
opposed to Federalist
fiscal policies in general, to the
support of a large standing army,
and particularly to the undemocratic
land policy.
How Alexander Hamilton obtained an
excise tax on spirits
to raise revenue and to gain a firmer
hold for the Federalist
Party in this democratic West and how
the frontiersmen rose
against the tax and were put down by the
militia and twenty
of the participants carried off to
Philadelphia and were kept six
months before being released, is a part
of the story of the actual
insurrection. It is told in a lively and
comprehensive manner but
the broad treatment of the historical
background affords a more
significant contribution than is often
the case when the subject
treats of a local problem.
In discussing the national significance
of the "Rebellion"
Baldwin thinks (p. 270) that
"whether or not the Federalists
stirred up the insurrection it proved a
godsend for them and they
skillfully took advantage of it. The
Democratic societies found
themselves maneuvered into a vulnerable
position because of the
activities of their brethren in the
West. . . . The result was that
the Federalists won the election of
1794, maintaining control of
both houses of Congress by snug
majorities."
The notes and bibliography are at the
end of the volume
with an adequate index, and
illustrations by Ward Hunter add
to its attractiveness.
W. D. O.
274
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND
HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Pope's Digest, 1815 (Vol. I). Ed. by Francis S. Philbrick. Law
Series, Vol. III. Collections, Vol. XXVIII.
(Springfield, Ill.,
Illinois State Historical Library, 1939.
lxxiv, 356p.).
This is a reprint of Volume I of the Laws
of the Territory
of Illinois as originally published in Kaskaskia by Nathaniel Pope
in 1815. Pope was Secretary of Illinois
Territory from 1809 to
1816. He had practised law while acting
as secretary and in 1816
resigned to represent the territory in
Congress. In 1818 he was
appointed United States district judge
for Illinois, a position
which he held until his death in 1850.
The laws of the Northwest Territory
became a part of the
laws of the territories into which it
was divided and likewise the
laws of Indiana Territory remained in
force in Illinois, except
in so far as they were modified by the
governor and judges of
the territory. In fact in 1812 the
Territory of Illinois passed an
act declaring that all laws passed by
the Legislature of Indiana
Territory which were in force in 1809
and had not been repealed
by the governor and judges of Illinois
Territory were effective.
In 1814 a belated act of the Illinois
Assembly reveals that
it had contracted with Pope to make a
digest and revision of
these laws for Illinois. He had
"much reason to thank his prede-
cessors in codification, John Johnson
and John Rice Jones, who
prepared the revised laws of Indiana
Territory in 1807." The
Indiana contribution which was largely
the various enactments of
the Northwest Territory constituted well
over two-thirds of
Pope's work. Most of the Indiana matter
is from the revision of
1807 and some from the legislation of
1807-1809.
Pope's Digest was not an official work, prepared under ade-
quate powers of revision and then
enacted by the Assembly, there-
fore the editor of the present edition
feels that Pope cannot be
held responsible for its defects, and
even if he could be "a severe
judgement of his labors would be
unjustified; for even today we
have progressed in the art of statutory
compilation, so very little
toward the ideals of authenticity,
clarity, and accessibility that the
defects of Pope's work are still
characteristic of similar compila-
tions in most of our states."
BOOK
REVIEWS 275
Mr. Philbrick in a seventy-four page
introduction evaluates
critically the Illinois codifications
from this digest of 1815 to that
of 1845. When Illinois entered the Union
in 1818 the first As-
sembly undertook a complete revision of
the statutes and in 1819
a joint committee was appointed to
examine existing laws and
report amendments and alterations
necessary to give them opera-
tion under the state government. Without
research, or critical
consideration and with little revision
the Code was prepared by
this committee within two months. Again
in 1827-1829 another
Code appeared, in 1833 came the Revised Laws, and in
1845 the
Revised Statutes of Mason Brayman.
What was the contribution of Pope's Digest
to Illinois legal
history? The editor's answer is that,
aside from the addition of
new titles, and aside from the rewriting
of some old titles as a
result of a new social spirit regarding
them, the statutes of Pope's
volume contain a large permanent
contribution to the legal sys-
tem of the state. Whole new fields of
legislation opened up after
1845 notably those of labor and public
utilities and served to
make later revisions bulkier and in
content more varied but down
through the revision of 1845 the changes
were for the most part
an elaboration and closer integration of
fundamental ideas and
provisions already in existence.
The value of this work to the student of
legal history seems
obvious, but here is now an accessible
work in convenient form
which will be of general use to students
of the social sciences.
The topical-alphabetical arrangement of
the work together with
the original index makes it possible for
one to locate easily
statutes of particular interest. A mere
perusal of the text with its
marginal notes in black-face type
affords an aspect of social legis-
lation and its development often
difficult to acquire from ordinary
compilations.
Volume II is to come later and in it
will appear a bibliography
and a general index to both volumes. The
editor in his prefatory
remarks indicates that the original
pages have been reproduced
line for line and that typographical
errors of the original have
also been reproduced. However, an error
in page references in
276
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the index (whether it appears wrongly in
the original or not)
should be followed by bracketed
correction if the volume is to be
of maximum usefulness. W. D. O.
Wooster of the Middle West. By Lucy Lilian Notestein. (New
Haven, Yale University Press, 1937.
333p. Illus. $2.50.)
This book, inspired by the early
researches of the author's
father, Jonas O. Notestein, who for
thirty years was a professor
of Latin in Wooster College, is a
notable contribution to the
educational history of Ohio and
indispensable to students inter-
ested in the development of universities
and institutions of higher
learning in the Middle West during the
nineteenth and twentieth
centuries. The movement which resulted
in founding Wooster
College dates from 1848, when two Ohio
synods, recognizing the
need for an additional college in the
Middle West and wishing to
eliminate the necessity of relying
entirely upon Princeton as a
training school for Presbyterian
clergymen, appointed a committee
"to receive any propositions or
offers of donations that may be
made to them with a view to establishing
such an institution."
After several postponements, occasioned
by the synods' considera-
tion of a series of locations, the
difficulties of obtaining the neces-
sary funds to be used for construction
purposes, and the coming
of the War between the States, the
synods finally adopted the sug-
gestion of the Reverend James Reed that
a college be located near
Wooster, which, at this period, was a
sprawling country town, far
removed from the sinister influence
offered by larger municipal
centers. The citizens of Wooster who,
during three years of
enthusiastic campaigning, had predicted
that the new "Princeton
of the West" would rival the
University of Michigan, were
bitterly disappointed when thirty-four
students appeared on the
opening date, September, 1870.
Beginning with the first president, the
author discusses the
growth and development of the college,
the expansion of the
physical plant and its destruction by
fire in 1901. The volume
concludes with an account of the
rebuilding and the development
BOOK REVIEWS 277
of the "New Wooster." Brief
biographical sketches of most of
the professors clearly reveal the
personal sacrifices often made
by faculty members in the interest of
their chosen profession. The
reader will find interesting material
concerning the expansion of
the curriculum, the opening of the
graduate school, the inaugura-
tion of co-education from the founding
of the college, and the
inclusion of women in the faculty after
1881.
Not the least interesting feature of the
book is the author's
treatment of such topics as student
life, student scandals in which
female employees of dormitories were
sometimes implicated, the
eating and chess clubs, the
establishment and activities of social
fraternities, the revolts resulting from
a ban on intercollegiate
athletics, and the rift between
"town and gown" occasioned by
student pranks and the part played by
the student body in munici-
pal politics.
This volume, a credit to the author and
indispensable to stu-
dents of higher education in Ohio, is
absorbingly interesting from
the first to the last page. Although
Miss Notestein has failed to
document her excellent narrative,
evidence seems to indicate that
she has made discriminating use of a
moderate range of both
manuscript and printed materials for
such a study. It is to be
hoped that the author, in a revised
edition, will include the cus-
tomary historical equipment, including
citation of authorities con-
sulted, and a critical, classified
bibliography. The book is well-
bound, attractively illustrated with a
number of views of Wooster
and of the college at different periods,
together with photographs
of the faculty. There is an adequate
index, an appendix, and
twenty-seven pages of explanatory notes.
J. O. M.
The Iconography of Tibetan Lamaism. By Antoinette K. Gordon.
(New York, Columbia University Press,
1939. 129p. Illus.
$16.00.)
This book brings together in one volume
a great mass of
information which hitherto has been
available only in certain
museums and in books which are not
generally accessible. Mrs.
278
OHIO ARCHEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Gordon, who is an associate in Asiatic
ethnology at the American
Museum of Natural History, states that
"the purpose of this
book is to give the student interested
in Tibetan iconography a
general idea of the development of
Buddhism into Lamaism, and
to make easier the identification of the
various deities of the
Tibetan pantheon."
There is a brief section concerning the
origin of Buddhism
and its evolution into Lamaism in Tibet
but the volume is pri-
marily an illustrated key or catalogue
for the identification of
the numerous gods which are represented
by paintings and sculp-
tured objects in Tibet. There are line
drawings of ritual objects,
talismans, symbols, and hand poses;
photographs of sacred paint-
ings and numerous photographs of
religious images. All of these
are described in the accompanying charts
and their meanings
explained.
The pronunciation and meanings of the
various Sanskrit and
Tibetan words are given which is a great
aid to the student who
is not familiar with those languages.
The book contains an exten-
sive bibliography for those who desire
to gain a comprehensive
knowledge of the subject, and it has
also a well-organized index.
It should be an indispensable reference
book for students and
institutions that are concerned with the
field of Tibetan religion.
R. G. M.
"Hello, the Boat!" By Phyllis Crawford. (New York, Henry
Holt and Company, 1938. 227p. Illus.
$2.00.)
There is much to praise in this book,
winner of the Julia Ells-
worth Ford Foundation Award of $3,000: a
spirited story, en-
gaging characters, and appealingly vivid
illustrations by Edward
Laning.
An historical novel, in the best sense
of that much misused
term, it tells the story of what befell
the Doaks--father, mother,
and three children--in the course of
their westward trek follow-
ing the depression of 1817. Eschewing
the usual means of trans-
portation--raft, flatboat, or Conestoga
wagon--the Doaks trav-
eled down from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati
on a boat fitted out as a
BOOK REVIEWS 279
store, peddling pots and pans, dry goods
and food stuffs, and hav-
ing many an interesting encounter with
the landmen who from
the banks halted them with the piercing
cry of "Hello, the Boat!"
Factual accuracy is maintained, but not
at the expense of a
spontaneous story, which recreates in a
convincing, absorbing
manner the way of life found in frontier
Ohio in the early years
of the nineteenth century.
Written primarily for children of ten,
and older, the book
is one which may be scanned with
pleasure by the more mature
reader. L. R. H.
The Pioneer Merchant in Mid-America. By Lewis E. Atherton.
University of Missouri, Studies, XIV.
(Columbia, Mo., Uni-
versity of Missouri, 1939. 135p. Illus.)
The Pioneer Merchant in Mid-America is an economic, his-
torical study, augmented by statistical
evidence, and dealing with
the problems of merchandising in the
Middle West from 1820 to
the Civil War. Emphasis is placed on the
activities of the mer-
chants of Illinois, Missouri, and
Wisconsin.
The author discusses the mid-western
merchant's service of
leveling out seasonal and cyclical
fluctuations. Specialization was
uncommon, merchants assuming a number of
functions. Besides
engaging in both retailing and
wholesaling, the merchant devoted
his attention to banking,
transportation, manufacturing, and the
produce trade. He enabled the western
farmers to produce for an
unknown market by advancing them credit
on future yields and
accepting the produce in exchange for
his goods.
Many storekeepers visited the seacoast
cities to purchase sup-
plies. Slow and hazardous means of
transportation handicapped
the group in moving goods west and in
disposing of farm crops
taken in barter. The significance of
these western merchants in
the development of the Mid-West can only
be appreciated by the
reader when he recalls what conditions
existed on the frontier
during this period. A picture of these
conditions is vividly por-
trayed by the author as he considers the
problems of the
merchants.
280 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND
HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Merchants generally held a prominent
position in community
life. They had more wealth, were better
read and more widely
traveled than the average westerner, and
as business men they
found it advisable to take a leading
part in the development of
their localities.
Improvements in transportation, the
growth of population,
the introduction of wholesale centers in
the Mid-West, and grow-
ing specialization in other lines
contributed to the gradual decline
of the general wholesale and retail
store. By the time of the Civil
War wholesaling and retailing functions
were generally separated,
and one-line retail stores were becoming
common. The author
devotes little attention to this phase
of the history of the pioneer
merchant, for his treatise is mainly
concerned with conditions as
they existed between 1820 and 1840,
before these changes began.
Of especial interest to the Ohio student
of economic history
is the author's discussion of the
importance of Cincinnati as a
temporary wholesale center, while his
comments on pioneer mer-
chandising in Mid-America during the
period under discussion in
this book, while not dealing
specifically with Ohio, do have a
bearing on and possible application to
merchandising in this state
from 1788 to 1850.
The book is well documented and
supplemented by an excel-
lent bibliography. The author's
interesting and informal style
makes the book enjoyable as well as
informative, although it is
sometimes difficult to see the
organization and sequence of his
thought. Details and anecdotes are used
to supplement his statis-
tical data. There is no index.
ANDREW J. ONDRAK
Educational Work in Museums of the
United States. By Grace
Fisher Ramsey. (New York, The H. W.
Wilson Co., 1938.
289p.)
Almost as remarkable as the development
of museums them-
selves during the past three decades is
the development of the
literature pertinent thereto. In few
instances indeed is there to be
BOOK REVIEWS 281
noted so gratifying a
near-contemporaneity of accomplishment
and publication.
Grace Fisher Ramsey's recent book comes
at just the proper
time to maintain this balance; moreover,
it is much more than
a compilation of information on a
subject so complex in its rami-
fications as is the subject
treated--educational work in museums
of the United States.
With some thirty millions of people
visiting museums, as
Mrs. Ramsey points out, there can be no
question that the
museum as an educational institution is
an important factor in
economic and cultural life.
Based on almost two decades of actual
experience in museum
education, familiarity with the growth
and extent of the move-
ment, plus personal visits to more than
140 museums within the
past few years, the author has given her
public not only an
insight into the present status of
educational activities of muse-
ums, but in addition a concise history
of their origin and growth.
Most instructive are the chapters on
adult education, school
classes and extension service. Among
other subjects discussed are
teacher training, field trips, and radio
programs, to which is ap-
pended a detailed discussion of
evaluation of museum educational
work through scientific approach.
Of primary value to museumists, the book
should appeal to
all who are interested in educational
methods of whatever
character.
H. C. S.