dgment of his contemporaries must be accepted without limitation.
Chancellor Kent objected to giving joint stock companies the right to
engage in privateering, a drastic measure passed by the Legislature of
1814 in the interest of a more vigorous prosecution of the war; and in
his usual felicitous style, and with much learning, the stubborn
Federalist pronounced the statute inconsistent with the spirit of the
age and contrary to the genius of the Federal Constitution. Young
replied to the great Chancellor in a series of essays, brilliant and
readable even in a new century. He showed that, although America had
been handicapped by Federalist opposition, by a disorganised army,
and by a navy so small that it might almost as well have not existed,
yet American privateers--outnumbering the British fleet, scudding
before the wind, defying capture, running blockades, destroying
commerce, and bearing the stars and stripes to the ends of the
earth--had dealt England the most staggering blow ever inflicted upon
her supremacy of the sea. This was plain talk and plain truth; and it
made the speaker of the Assembly known throughout the State as "the
sword, the shield, and the ornament of his party." Young was as
dauntless as Spencer, and, if anything, a more distinguished looking
man. He was without austerity and easy of approach; and, although
inclined to reticence, he seemed fond of indulging in jocular remarks
and an occasional story; but he was a man of bad temper. He fretted
under opposition as much as Clinton, and he easily became vindictive
toward opponents. This kept him unpopular even among men of his own
faction. Clinton thought him "much of an imbecile," and suggested in a
letter to Post that "suspicions are entertained of his integrity."[193]
Yet Young had hosts of friends eager to fight his political battles.

[Footnote 193: DeWitt Clinton's Letters to Henry Post, in _Harper's
Magazine_, Vol. 50, p. 417.]

The Bucktails had no serious expectation either of nominating or
electing Samuel Young to the United States Senate. They knew the
Clintonians had a majority, and their purpose, in attending the
caucus, was simply to prevent a nomination. No sooner had the meeting
assembled, therefore, than several Bucktails attacked the Governor,
reproaching him for the conduct of his followers and severely
criticising his political methods and character. To this German
retorted with great bitterness. German made no pretensions to th