President Pierce's opinion of Major Donelson may be learned from the following letter, written by him to the Major when the latter was the editor of the Washington Union, the National Organ of the Democratic party:
"Concord, May 30, 1851.
"My Dear Sir: I rejoice that the leading organ of our party is now under your control, and regard the change as most auspicious at this juncture. There is a great battle before us—a battle for the Union—a battle for the ascendency of the principles, the maintenance of which so nobly signalized the administration of General Jackson. The tone, vigor, and statesmanlike grasp which you have brought to the columns of the Union are not merely important, they are absolutely indispensable in this crisis.
"With great respect, your friend and servant,
"FRANK. PIERCE."
The following article is from the Nashville Union, of October 15, 1844, the Tennessee Organ of Democracy, published within a few miles of where Major Donelson lives, and has passed most of his life. This article shows what opinion was entertained of him before he became a Know-Nothing:
"The diplomatic agency of this government in Texas is, at this moment, the most important mission abroad; although it ranks with those of the second class, its high and important duties require the talents of one every way qualified for the first foreign mission on the globe.
"We congratulate the administration on having been able to secure the services of one so eminently qualified in all respects for the station, whose thorough knowledge of the relations subsisting between the two countries, and whose intimate acquaintance with the prominent statesmen of this and that government, will place him in the enjoyment of advantages which cannot fail to secure to us the most desirable results.
"Major Donelson leaves his plantation near the Hermitage to-day—proceeding overland to the Mississippi river on his way to the Texan Capital—and we cannot but participate in the painful emotions with which the word 'farewell' will be exchanged between himself and his venerable patron, friend, and relative, 'The Sage of the Hermitage.'
"In view of the advanced age of General Jackson, it is more than probable that they may never meet again. A relationship next to that of father and son, if, indeed, it be not equally near and dear, will be severed perhaps for ever. And we feel assured that nothing short of a sense of duty to his country could have induced an acceptance of the mission. Nor, for this patriotic reason, would the aged veteran advise him to decline it.
"Major D. leaves a host of good and true friends, who will continue to have an abiding solicitude for his health and happiness, and for his early and complete success in 'extending the area of freedom.'"