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Bethlehem, in Geigrnphy, a town of the Netherlands, 

 in Brabant. N. lat. 51" 2'. E. long. 4° 40'. 

 Bethlehem. See Belem. 



Bethlehem, a town of America, in Albany county, 

 New York, fiuitful in paftures, and affording large quanti- 

 ties of excil'eiit butter. By the (fate cer.fus of 1796, 388 

 of the inh.ibitaatj are eleftors. — A!fo,a townfliip in Berkfhire 

 county, MafTachufttts, containing 26 ( inhabitants. It lies 

 al^ont 10 n::!j- S. of E. from Stockbridge, and 130 from 

 Bollon, and bnders on the Tyringham and Loudon. — 

 Alfo, a townlliip in Hunteulon countv, New Jerfev, fituate 

 at the head of tlie fouth branch of RanU)n river, and con- 

 taining 1335 inhabitants, including 31 (lavts. — -Alfo, a town- 

 fhip in Litchfield county, CmineCticut, j'lining Litchfield 

 county on the north, and Woodbuiy on the foutli. — Alfo, 

 a poll town in Northampton coimtv, Pcnnf) Ivania, which is 

 a celebrated fettlement of the United Brethren of the Pro- 

 teftant epifcopal church, as thty term themfclvcs. It is 

 fituate on Lehigh river, a wellern branch of the Delaware, 

 53 miles northerly from Philadelphia, and 18 foutherly from 

 the Wind Gap. Tlictown (lands parrly on the bwer hanks 

 of the Manakes, a fine creek, which affords trout, and other 

 filli, in a healthfjl and pleafant fitnation, and in fnmmcr is 

 much frequented by ge\itry from different parti. In \'J'?'~-, 

 there were 60 dwelling lumfcs of Hone, well built, and 6co 

 inhabitants. Befides the mecting-houfe, this place has three 

 other public buildings, wliich are fpacious ; one for the 

 fingle brethren, one for the fingle fillers, and the other for 

 the widows. In a houfe adjoining the church is a fchoul 

 for females, and fince 17S7, a boarding fchool for young 

 ladies, under the direction of the minider of the place, who 

 alfo fuperintends the buys' fchool, kept in a fepaiate houfe. 

 Both thefe fchools are in high repute, and much frequented. 

 At the lower part of the town there is an hydraulic machine 

 of fimple conftruclion, that raifes the water from a fpring to 

 a refervoir, at the height of 100 feet, whence it is con- 

 ducted by pipes into the feveral (Ireetsof the town. In this 

 town are alfo a (lore, with a general affortment of goods, a 

 large tan-yard, a grill-mill, a fulling-mill, an oil-mill, and a 

 faw-mill, and on the banks of the Lehigh, a brewery. N. 

 lat. 40° 37'. W. long. 75° 14'. 



Bethlehem, Star of,'\n Botany, Ses Orn ithog alum. 

 BETHLEHEMITES, or Bethlemites, in Church 

 Htflory, a fort of monks introduced into England in the year 

 1257, habited like the Dominicans, except that, on their 

 breatl, they wore a ftar with five rays, in memory of the ftar 

 or comet which appeared over Bethlehem at the nativity of 

 our Saviour. They were celled at Cambridge, and had only 

 one houfe in England. 



There is alfo an order of Bethlehemites (lill fuhdding vn 

 Peru, who have convents at I^una ; one called of the incura- 

 bles, the other of our Lady of mount Carmel. Thefe Bctli- 

 Ichcmitcs came originally from the city of Guatimala iu 

 Mexico, where they were inllituted by the venerable Peter 

 Jolcph of Betaneur, a native of the tortii of Chafna, or Villa 

 Fuerte, on the idand of Tcneriff, in 1626, for the lervice of" 

 the poor. After his death, which happened in 1^)67, his 

 ■longregation was approved of by a bull of Clement X. in 

 1672, and in 1674. Innocent XI. in 16S7, created it into 

 a community of regulars. Before this time it bad palTed 

 from Guatimala to Mexico, and from thence, in 167 1, to 

 Lima. In the city of St. Miguel de I'iiira, they took pof- 

 i'tfiion of the hofpital 01 St. Ann, in 167^, and of that of 

 St. Seballian,in Truxillo, in 1680. Their probity and dili- 

 gence in dilcharging thefe trulls induced other places to 

 feleft them as direclors of their hofpitals, and among the lell, 

 th? city of Quito, 'llie fathers of their order go bare-footed, 



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and wear a habit^f dark brown colour, nearly refembling that 

 of the capuchins, whofe order they alfo u^J'^'lc, in not fhaving 

 their beards. On one fide of theircloak is an imageof our Lady 

 of Bethlehem. Every Cxth yearthey meet to choofe a general, 

 which ceremony isperfonned ahemately at Mexico and Lima. 

 Tne Bethlehen-.ites, though outwardly of great fimplicity, 

 pafs for the moil refined politicians ; infomuch as to be called 

 the quintelfence of the Carmelites and Jefuits. They are all 

 friars. For their almoner they choofe a fecular pritft, whom 

 they hire, and who has no vote in the chapter. 



BEl'HLEM, Gabor, in Biography, prince of Tranfyl- 

 vanin, was a defcendanl of a family of rank, but vcr)- fmall 

 property, and attached to the reformed religion. By hit 

 valour he obtained the favour of Gabriel ILattori ; but hav. 

 ing ingratiated himfelf with the Porte, in a vifit to Conftan- 

 tiiiople, he obtained a forCe which enabled him to expel 

 Button, and ti> ellabhfli himfelf as prince or waiwode, in 

 1613. He was afterwards led by ambition to extend hi» 

 dominions, and under the advantage of an alliance with 

 Frederic, the elector palatine, and newly declared king 

 of Bohemia, he .made an irruption into Upper Hungary, 

 in 1619. Having reduced this countiy, he received the 

 fubmiirion of Lower Hungary, and in his march towards Vi- 

 enna he took Prefbirrg, and was acknowledged prince tf 

 Hungary. The afhltance which was afforded him by the 

 opprcifed protcflantf, induced him to ctlablilli liberty of 

 confcicnce throughout Hungary. At an affcmbly of the 

 flates, he was declared king ; bat in coiifcquence of a treaty 

 concluded between him and the emperor, he renounced the 

 title and dignity of king of Hu-.:gary, and was made in re- 

 turn prince of the empire, \vith the poffefTijn of two duchies 

 in Silclla, and ieveral ca.lles and dillritls in Hungar)-. His 

 redlcis difpofition however led him to violate the treaty, and, 

 in 1624., he overran Hungary, till he was defeated by the 

 imperial general, and obliged to take refuge in Caffovia. 

 Upon this a treaty of peace was negociated, by which he 

 renounced all pretenfions to Hungary, and all conneClion* 

 with the enemies of the houfe of Auftria, and was invefted 

 with feveral lordlhips in Silefia, and with authority over 

 Tranfylvania during life. After this period he remained 

 quiet ; and falling into a diopfy, died in 1629. He left 

 legacies both to the emperor and grand feignor. Gaber 

 married the daughter of John Sigifmond, eleclor of Bran- 

 denburgh. Mod. Univ. Hill. vol. xxvii. p. 2, ic. 



BETH-MA ON, the huufe of habitation, or, of iniquity, in 

 Ancient Geography, a city of the Moabites, in the tribe of 

 Reuben. Jer. xlviii. 23. 



BETH-MA RCHA BOTH. t\ie houfe of chariots, or, of 

 litlernefs extlncJ, a city in the tribe of Simeon. 



IjE TH-MAUS, a village of Galilee, between Sephoris 

 and Tiberias, dillant, according to Jofephus, 4 iladia from 

 the latter. Lightfoot fuppofcs it to be the Beth-meon of 

 the Talmud. 



BETH-NIMRAH, the houfe of the le^,pard, or, of rebel- 

 lion, or, of litlcrucfs, a city in the tribe of Cad. Numb, 

 xxxii. 36. 



BETHO-'\NNABA, or Beth-hannabah, a town, ac- 

 cording to Eufebius, 4 miles call from Diolpohs. The name 

 prefcrves fome remains of the word Nob, where the taber- 

 nacle continued for fome time, in tlie reign of .Saul. I Sam. 

 xxi. I. Accordingto Jerom, Nob was not farfrom Diofpolis. 

 BETHOGLA. the houfe of the feafl or dance, the name of 

 two places : one fixed by Eufebius, 8 miles from Gaza ; the 

 other by Jerom, 2 miles from Jordan. The Bethagla of 

 Eufebius is probably part of the tribe of Judah. Jolh. xv. 6. 

 The Bcthogla of Jerom belongs to that of Benjamin. Jofh. 

 xviii. ^l. 



M m 2 BETHOME, 



