the ground I
have mentioned, as a man more certain to bring about the annexation of
Texas than Mr. Van Buren, these friends of Mr. Van Buren in the North
all "caved in,"--not a man of them stood. Mr. Van Buren himself wrote a
letter very complimentary to Mr. Polk and Mr. Dallas, and found no fault
with the nomination.

Now, Gentlemen, if they were "dough faces" who voted for the Missouri
Compromise, what epithet should describe these men, here in our New
England, who were so ready, not only to change or abandon him whom they
most cordially wished to support, but did so in order to make more sure
the annexation of Texas. They nominated Mr. Polk at the request of
gentlemen from the South, and voted for him, through thick and thin,
till the work was accomplished, and Mr. Polk elected. For my part, I
think that "dough faces" is an epithet not sufficiently reproachful.
Such persons are dough faces, with dough heads, and dough hearts, and
dough souls; they are _all_ dough; the coarsest potter may mould them to
vessels of honor or dishonor,--most readily to vessels of _dis_honor.

But what do we now see? Repentance has gone far. There are among these
very people, these very gentlemen, persons who espouse, with great zeal,
the interests of the Free Soil party. I hope their repentance is as
sincere as it appears to be. I hope it is honest conviction, and not
merely a new chance for power, under a new name and a new party. But,
with all their pretensions, and with all their patriotism, I see dough
still sticking on the cheeks of some of them. And therefore I have no
confidence in them, not a particle. I do not mean to say, that the great
mass of the people, especially those who went to the Buffalo Convention
from this State, have not the highest and purest motives. I think they
act unwisely, but I acquit them of dishonest intentions. But with
respect to others, and those who have been part and parcel in the
measures which have brought new slave territory into this Union, I
distrust them all. If they repent, let them, before we trust them, do
works worthy of repentance.

I have said, Gentlemen, that in my opinion, if it were desirable to
place Mr. Van Buren at the head of government, there is no chance for
him. Others are as good judges as I am. But I am not able to say that I
see any State in the Union in which there is a reasonable probability
that he will get the vote. There may be. Others are more versed in such
statistics