Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 02.djvu/24

LEFT BETHAM-EDWABDS 10 BEIHLEHEMITES become finer and finer, and with their disappearance the angular distance of the source of light becomes ascertainable. In the apparatus used by Professor Michel- son he substituted a system of reflecting mirrors for the slits, thus obtaining better results. BETHAM-EDWARDS, MATILDA, an Bnglish author, born in Suffolk, in 1836; was educated privately; has published numerous works in poetry, fiction, and on French rural life. She was made an officer of public instruction in France in 1891. Among her works are "The White House by the Sea," "Kitty," "France of To-Day," "A Romance of Dijon," "The Lord of the Harvest," a volume of poems, "East of Paris" (1902) ; "Home Life in France" (1905) ; "French Men, Women, and Books" (1910). BETHANIA, or BETHANY a town in Syria, about 2 miles S. E. of Jerusa- lem, on the way to Jericho. It is now a small place, inhabited by a few Turk- ish families, by whom it is called Lazari, in memory of Lazarus. The inhabitants show the pretended sites of the houses of Lazarus, of Martha, of Simon the leper, and of Mary Magdalene. BETHANY COLLEGE, a coeducational institution in Bethany, W. Va., organ- ized in 1841; under the auspices of the Church of the Disciples; reported at the end of 1919: Professors and instructors, 29; students, 500; president, T. E. Cramblet, A. M. BETHEL, a town of Palestine, about 10 miles from Jerusalem, now called Beitin, or Beiteen. The patriarch Jacob here had a vision of angels, in commem- oration of which he built an altar. In- teresting ruins abound in the vicinity. BETHEL COLLEGE, an educational institution in Russellville, Ky. ; organ- ized in 1854; under the auspices of the Baptist Church; reported at the end of 1919: Professors and instructors 12; students, 263; president, G. F. Dasher. BETHESDA, a pool in Jerusalem, near St. Stephen's Gate, and the Temple of Omar. It is 400 feet long, 130 broad, and 75 deep, and is now known as Birket Israel (see John v: 2-9). BETHLEHEM, a borough in North- ampton CO., Pa.; on the Lehigh river and canal, and the Lehigh Valley, the Central of New Jersey, and other rail- roads; 57 miles N. of Philadelphia. It was founded in 1741 by Moravians, under Count Zinzendorf, and is the chief center of that sect in the United States. It contains a Moravian Theological Sem- inary, a Moravian Seminary for young ladies, more than a dozen churches, and two National banks. On the opposite side of the river, here spanned by two bridges, is South Bethlehem, the seat of Lehigh University (q. v.), the main offices of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, and a number of important manufacturing establishments, including silk mills, rolling mills, foundries and machine shops, brass works, zinc oxide and spelter works, etc. Monocacy creek separates Bethlehem from West Beth- lehem, which is also an industrial borough. South Bethlehem, West Beth- lehem and Northampton Heights now form a part of Bethlehem. Pop. (1910) 12,837; (1920) 50,358. BETHLEHEM ("house of bread"; modern Beitlahm), the birthplace of Jesus Christ and of King David, and the Ephratah of the history of Jacob, is now a small, unwalled village of white stone houses. The population, about 8,000, is wholly Christian — Latin, Greek, and Ar- menian. The Convent of the Nativity, a large, square building, was built by the Empress Helena, in 327 A. D., but de- stroyed by the Moslems in 1236, and, it is supposed, restored by the crusaders. Within it is the Church of the Nativity, which is subdivided among the Latins, Greeks, and Armenians, for devotional purposes. The church is built in the form of a cross; the nave, belongs to the Armenians, and is supported by 48 beautiful Corinthian columns of solid granite. The other portions of the church, forming the arms of the cross, are walled up. At the farther end of that section, which forms the head of the cross, and on the threshold, ii a sculp- tured marble star, which the Bethle- hemites say covers the central point of the earth. Here a long intri- cate passage descends to the crypt be- low, where the blessed Virgin is said to have been delivered. The walls of the chamber are hung with draperies of the gayest colors; and a silver star, with the words, "Hie de Virgine Maria Jesus Christus vxitus est" (here Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary), marks the spot of the Nativity. The manger stands in a low recess cut in the rock. The site appears to have been venerated since the 2d century, a. 4. To the N. W_. stands a square domed building, marking the reputed site of Rachel's tomb. The Beth- lehemites chiefly gain their subsistence by the manufacture and sale of crucifixes, beads, boxes, shells, etc. BETHLEHEMITES, a name applied (1) to the followers of Jerome Huss,