nguished himself in Congress by his opposition to the Mexican War,
taking the side of the common enemy against his own country." No better
refutation of these oft-repeated charges could be made than that given
by Lincoln himself on this occasion. "The Judge charges me," he said,
"with having, while in Congress, opposed our soldiers who were fighting
in the Mexican War. I will tell you what he can prove by referring to
the record. You remember I was an old Whig; and whenever the Democratic
party tried to get me to vote that _the war had been righteously begun_
by the President, I would not do it. But whenever they asked for any
money or land-warrants, or anything to pay the soldiers, I gave _the
same vote that Judge Douglas did_. Such is the truth, and the Judge has
a right to make all he can out of it."

The most ambitious utterance of Lincoln during this term in Congress was
that of July 27, 1848, when he took for his subject the very
comprehensive one of "The Presidency and General Politics." It was a
piece of sound and forcible argumentation, relieved by strong and
effective imagery and quiet humor. A considerable portion of it was
occupied with an exposure of the weaknesses of General Cass, the
Presidential candidate opposed to General Taylor. Lincoln ridiculed Cass
with all the wit at his command. An extract from this speech has
already been quoted in this work, in the account of Lincoln in the Black
Hawk War. Another passage, equally telling, relates to the vacillating
action of General Cass on the Wilmot Proviso. After citing a number of
facts in reference to the case, Lincoln says: "These extracts show that
in 1846 General Cass was for the Proviso _at once_; that in March, 1847,
he was still for it, _but not just then_; and that in December, 1847, he
was _against it_ altogether. This is a true index to the whole man. When
the question was raised, in 1846, he was in a blustering hurry to take
ground for it. He sought to be in advance, and to avoid the
uninteresting position of a mere follower. But soon he began to see
glimpses of the great Democratic ox-gad waving in his face, and to hear
indistinctly a voice saying, 'Back! Back, sir! Back a little!' He shakes
his head and bats his eyes and blunders back to his position of March,
1847. But still the gad waves, and the voice grows more distinct and
sharper still, 'Back, sir! Back, I say! Further back!' And back he goes
to the position of December, 1847, at which th