Lincoln answers Herndon's letter. "I will stake my life, that if you had been in my place, you would have voted just as I did. . . . You are compelled to speak; and your only alternative is to tell the truth or a lie." While Whigs condemn President for beginning war, they consistently vote supplies. Even Whigs who have participated in war "do not hesitate to denounce, as unjust, the Presidents conduct in the beginning of the war."Abraham Lincoln to William H. Herndon, 1 February 1848, CW, 1:446-48.