LOVE;  A  DUEL;  LAW,  AND   CONGRESS.        77

possibly  the  point  lay  in  the  words,  "having  the
power,"  and  "can,"  for  the  Texans  "had  the
power"  and  "could,"  and  the  South  had  it  not
and  could  not;  and  so  Lincoln's  practical  proviso
saved  his  theoretical  consistency ;  though  he  must
still  have  explained  how  either  Texas  or  the  South
could  know  whether  they  "had  the  power,"  and
"could,"  except  by  trial.
Lincoln's  course  concerning  the  war  and  the
administration  did  not  please  his  constituents.
With  most  of  the  Whigs  he  voted  for  Ashmun's
amendment,  which  declared  that  the  war  had  been
"unnecessarily  and  unconstitutionally  commenced
by  the  President."  But  soon  he  heard  that  the
people  in  Springfield  were  offended  at  a  step  which
might  weaken  the  administration  in  time  of  stress ;
and  even  if  the  President  had  transcended  the
Constitution,  they  preferred  to  deny  rather  than
to  admit  the  fact.  When  Douglas  afterward
charged  Lincoln  with  lack  of  patriotism,  Lincoln
replied  that  he  had  not  chosen  to  "skulk,"  and,
feeling  obliged  to  vote,  he  had  voted  for  "the
truth"  rather  than  for  "a  lie."1  He  remarked
also  that  he,  with  the  Whigs  generally,  always
voted  for  the  supply  bills.  He  took  and  main-
tained his  position  with  entire  manliness  and  hon-
esty, and  stated  his  principles  with  perfect  clear-
ness, neither  shading  nor  abating  nor  coloring  by
any  conciliatory  or  politic  phrase.  It  was  a  ques-

1  Herndon,  281 ;  see  Letters  given  in  full  by  Lamon,  291,  293,
295  (at  296) ;  N.  and  H.,  i.  274.
78  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.
tion  of  conscience,  and  he  met  it  point-blank.
