BET 



491 



B E V 



(h!e!im. convent of the Latins, another of the Greeks, and a 

 *- Y~ ' third of the Armenians. But its chief ornament is a 

 magnificent chir ~h, erected by the pious Empress 

 Helena, over the place where the Saviour was born ; 

 to which a great number of pilgrims annually resort. 

 It is built in the form of a cross, and the top of it 

 commands a fine view of the surrounding country. 

 The roof is of cedar, covered with lead, and Support- 

 ed by four rows of lofty pillars, ten in a row, and 

 each formed of one entire piece of white marble. 

 The walls were overlaid with the same beautiful 

 stone, but it is said that the Turks have carried it 

 away to adorn their mosques. The upper ends of 

 the cross terminate in three semicircles, in each of 

 which there is an altar. Over the chancel is a large 

 cupola, of which the outside is covered with lead, and 

 the inside adorned with beautiful Mosaic workman- 

 ship. Here also is a cave, or grotto, hollowed out of 

 a chalky rock, which is highly reverenced on account 

 of a tradition, that in it the Virgin Mary hid herself 

 and her child from the wrath of Herod, for some 

 time before she and Joseph fled with him into Egypt. 

 On the west side of the town there is a well, called 

 the Well of David, on account of his extreme desire 

 to drink the water of it; (2 Sam. xxiii. 15.) but it 

 now resembles a cistern more than a well, being sup- 

 plied only with rain water. About two furlongs be- 

 yond it, are still to be seen the remains of an old 

 aqueduct, said to have been the work of Solomon, 

 for the purpose of conveying the water from Solo- 

 mon's pools to Jerusalem. It runs the whole way 

 along the surface of the ground, and is composed of 

 coarse marble stones, united together with a cement 

 which has become even harder than the stones them- 

 selves. For the greater security, these were covered 

 with smaller stones mixed with a strong mortar, so 

 that the whole work seems to have possessed a du- 

 rability sufficient to withstand the ravages of time. 

 But this strong aqueduct, which at an immense la- 

 bour and expense had been carried five or six leagues, 

 has been so completely destroyed by the- Turks, that 

 only a few scattered fragments of it remain. 



For an account of the present state of Bethlehem, 

 we shall transcribe the short description which is 

 given of it by Volney. " This village, situated two 

 leagues south-east of Jerusalem, is seated on an emi- 

 nence, in a country full of hills and vallies, and might 

 be rendered very agreeable. The soil is the best in 

 all these districts : fruits, vines, olives, and sesamum, 

 succeed here extremely well ; but cultivation is want- 

 ing. They reckon about 600 men in this village ca- 

 pable of bearing arms upon occasion ; and this often 

 occurs, sometimes to resist the Pacha, sometimes to 

 make war with the adjoining villages, and sometimes 

 in consequence of intestine dissensions. Of these 600 

 men, about 100 are Latin Christians, who have a 

 vicar dependent on the great convent of Jerusalem. 

 Formerly their whole trade consisted in the manufac- 

 ture of beads, but the reverend fathers, not being able 

 to find a sale for all they could furnish, have resumed 

 the cultivation of their lauds. They make a white 

 wine, which justifies the former celebrity of the wines 

 of Judea, but it has the bad property of being very 

 heady. The necessity of uniting for their common 

 defence prevails over their religious differences, and 



makes the Christians live here in tolerable harmony Bethune 

 with the Mahometans, their fellow-citizens. Both are II 



of the party Yamani, which, in opposition to that . e e " g ', 

 called Kaisi, divides all Palestine into two factions, 

 perpetually at variance. The courage of these pea- 

 sants, which has been frequently tried, has rendered 

 them formidable through all that country." See Vol- 

 ney's Travels, vol. ii. p. 322. Maundrell's Journey 

 to Aleppo, p. 132. Browne's Travels in Africa, p. 

 363. Ant. Univ. Hist. vol. ii. p. 177. Calmet's 

 Diet. (a. f.) 



BETHUNE. See Sully. 



BETHUNE, a town of France, in the department 

 of the Pas de Calais, situated on a rock in the river 

 Bietre. The castle is irregular, and, together with 

 the city, forms a triangular figure. Population 5000. 



BETONICA, a genus of plants of the class Di- 

 dynamia, and order Gymnospermia. See Botany. 



() 



BETULA, a genus of plants of the class Mo- 



ncecia, and order Tetrandria. See Botany, (iu) 



BEVELAND. See Zealand. 



BEVERIDGE, William, was born at Barrow 

 in Leicestershire, A.D. 1638, and wa&educated at 

 St John's College, Cambridge, where he distinguish* 

 ed himself by his uncommon attainments in the learn- 

 ed languages, by his early piety and seriousness of 

 mind, and by his exemplary sobriety and integrity 

 of life. He took the degree of master of arts in 

 1660 ; and was ordained priest the following year. 

 He was soon after collated to the vicarage of Yealing 

 in Middlesex ; and in 1672, was- chosen rector of St 

 Peter's, Cornhill, London. He was successively pro- 

 moted to the prebend of Chiswick, the archdeaconry 

 of Colchester, the prebend of Canterbury, and the 

 bishopric of St Asaph. He enjoyed the episcopal 

 dignity little more than three years ; and died in the 

 71st year of his age, A. D. 1708. Bishop Beveridge 

 published, during his life, the following works : De 

 Linguarum Oricnta/ium, fyc. prestantia et usu, 1658. 

 Institutionum Chronologicarum libri duo, &c. 1669. 

 ZumSixoh sive pandectce Canonum, S. S. &c. 1672. 

 Codex Canonum, &c. vindicatus, 1 679. The Church 

 Catechism explained, Sec. 1704% And after his death 

 were published ; Private Thoughts upon Religion, 

 &c. Private Thoughts upon a Christian Life, &c. 

 The great Advantage and Necessity of Public Prayer 

 and Communion, &c. One hundred and fifty Ser- 

 mons and Discourses, &c. 12 vols. 8vo. Thesaurus 

 Theologicus, or a Complete System of Divinity, &c. 

 4 vols. 8vo. A Defence of the Book of Psalms, col- 

 lected into English Metre, by Thomas Sternhald, &c. 

 Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles. In 1711, 

 there was published in London, a very severe attack 

 upon the bishop's works, in a pamphlet entitled, A 

 Short View of Dr Beveridge's Writings, &c. in which 

 he is charged with a strong tendency to jingle and quib- 

 bling in his style, with inaccurate reasoning, and with 

 defective arrangement in many of his discourses ; but 

 the writer seems to have been chiefly influenced by 

 a dislike of his Calvinistic sentiments. Whatever di- 

 versity of opinion may be entertained on these points, 

 it cannot easily be denied, that Bishop Beveridge 

 was possessed of very extensive learning, and a greit 

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