"At Lyra diductis per cœlum cornibus inter Sidera conspicitur, qua quondam ceperat Orpheus Omne quod attigerat, cantu, manesque per ipsos Fecit iter, domuit que infernas carmine leges. Hinc cœlestis honos, similisque potentia causæ: Tunc silvas et saxa trahens, nunc sidera ducit, Et rapit immensum mundi revolubilis orbem."
II. 331-337.
It is my opinion that, although this last line does not appear, my father had it in his mind when applying the device to the American passport, but I have not had the leisure to look for any explanation he may have himself left of it. His papers are voluminous, and I have barely as yet glanced at any part of their contents. This must be my apology for sending you so unsatisfactory a reply.
I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
(Signed,) CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS.
The following is a translation of the above quotation:—
Conspicuous among the stars, its horns wide spread over the heavens, is the Lyre, with which Orpheus was wont to captivate everything to which he addressed his song, and even made a journey through Hades itself, and put to sleep the infernal laws. Hence, its celestial honor; and, by the same power with which it then drew rocks and trees along, it now leads the stars, and whirls along the immense orb of the revolving world.
This last line shows that the constellation Lyra, as an emblem of union for the United States, would have been an amplification of the attribute of "fascination" ascribed to the Rattlesnake, as an emblem of union for the United States, in the account we have already given of the Rattlesnake as such, in describing the standard of the commander-in-chief of the American navy; for the constellation Lyra would not only imply "that those who consider the liberty and blessings which America affords, and once come over to her, never afterwards leave her, but spend their lives with her," but that by their union and harmony the United States would "whirl along the immense orb of the revolving world," to follow their example in their forms of government.
Having thus shown how appropriate the constellation Lyra would have been as an emblem of the union of the United States, we proceed to ascertain if the first flag displayed under the resolution of June 14, 1777, bore that constellation. In Trumbull's picture of the surrender of Burgoyne, and Peale's picture of Washington, the thirteen stars are represented as arranged in a circle; it now remains to show the existence of some record exhibiting a connection between the constellation Lyra and the circle of thirteen stars.
We find this record on a form for a passport of the United States, prepared under Mr. John Quincy Adams, when Secretary of State, in 1820, which form is now in use. In adopting the form in question, the arms of the United States, previously used on U.S. passports, were replaced by a circle of thirteen stars surrounding an eagle, holding in his beak the constellation Lyra, and the motto, Nunc sidera ducit.