In line 17-20 lincoln says that one party "would make war" while the other "would accept war". To whom was lincoln referring in each part of this sentence? how does this sentence begin to set a tone or attitude that Lincoln takes throughout The piece

Lincoln was referring to the two political parties that were in power at the time of his presidency. Lincoln made it clear that while it was the fault of the south to secede from the union, the north was accepting that war was inevitable because they would not allow the states to secede. Lincoln showed commitment to war because he was obligated to keep the union intact.