AMARANTH. 227 
Sad Amaranthus, in whose purple gore 
Meseems I see Amintas’ wretched fate, 
To whom sweet poets’ verse hath given endless date. 
Spenser. 
Milton, too, in his Lycidas, blesses it among the 
flowers “ that sad embroidery wear 
Bid Amaranthus all his beauty shed, 
And daffodillies fill their cups with tears. 
To strew the laureate hearse where Lycid lies. 
In modern times, the amaranth has given its 
name to an order instituted by Queen Christina of 
Sweden, in the year 1633, at an entertainment 
given in honour of Don Antonio Pimental, the 
Spanish Ambassador. On this occasion she ap¬ 
peared in a dress covered with diamonds, attended 
by a suite of sixteen nobles of her court and the 
same number of ladies. At the conclusion of the 
ball she stripped herself of the diamonds and dis¬ 
tributed them among the company, at the same time 
presenting the new order of knighthood, consisting 
of a ribbon and medal, with an Amaranth in 
enamel, encircled with the motto : “ Dolce nella me- 
moria” 
-H. 
bi^**'*’ 
