"The disunionists did not want
me to take the oath of office. I have taken it, and I intend to
administer the office for the benefit of the people, in accordance with
the Constitution and the law." He was especially anxious that Kentucky
should not be plunged into a rebellious war, as he saw that this State
would be of the utmost importance to the Union cause. Soon after the
bombardment of Fort Sumter a conference was held between the President
and a number of prominent Kentuckians then in Washington, at which
Lincoln expressed himself in the most earnest words. Kentucky, he
declared, "must not be precipitated into secession. She is the key to
the situation. With her faithful to the Union, the discord in the other
States will come to an end. She is now in the hands of those who do not
represent the people. The sentiment of her State officials must be
counteracted. We must arouse the young men of the State to action for
the Union. We must know what men in Kentucky have the confidence of the
people, and who can be relied on for good judgment, that they may be
brought to the support of the Government at once." He paid a high
tribute to the patriotism of the Southern men who had stood up against
secession. "But," said he, "they are, as a rule, beyond the meridian of
life, and their counsel and example do not operate quickly, if at all,
on the excitable nature of young men who become inflamed by the
preparations for war, and who in such a war as this will be, if it goes
on, are apt to go in on the side that gives the first opportunity. The
young men must not be permitted to drift away from us. I know that the
men who voted against me in Kentucky will not permit this Government to
be swept away by any such issue as that framed by the disunionists."

As Mr. Markland, a prominent Kentuckian, relates, in his reminiscences
of the period: "Immediately a campaign for the Union was begun in
Kentucky. The State could not be dragooned into open secession,
therefore the neutrality policy was adopted. That policy was more
rigidly observed by Mr. Lincoln than it was by his opponents, but he was
not misled by it. Judge Joseph Holt made eloquent appeals for the Union
through the columns of the press and from the forum, as did the Speeds,
the Goodloes, and many others of prominence. Rousseau, Jacobs,
Poundbaker, and others, stood guard in the Legislature, and by their
eloquence stayed the tide of disunion there. The labors of Judge Holt,
t