specially bound to exercise hospitality and to tend the sick, even though they have infectious diseases. In 166S a female order of the name was founded in Guatemala, but it never spread. The male order spread in South America, but in 1820 was secularized, and in 1845 was extinct. The followers of John Huss were styled Beth- leheniites. from the Bethlehem Church in Prague, where their leader preached.
BETHLEHEM, Musical or Bach Festival.
Musically, Bethlehem. Pa., is the most remark-
able town or settlement in the United States.
To a great degree it is a iloravian town, having
been founded by the Moravians about 1740, and
being still under the influence of the policy then inaugurated. In 1780 the settlement had an
orchestra, probably the first in America, which
fact, together with the strong musical tendency
of the liturgj- of the Moravian Church, with its
realistically religious hymns, imdoubtedly led up to the developments of the present day. Early in its church history flutes, horns, viols, and trombones were permanent factors in the church
music. The modern festival is frequently referred to as the American musical Oberammergau, or the American Bayreuth. It resembles the latter in many ways, and particularly in the emplovment of a quartet of trombones to summon the people to the performances, as do the trumpets in the German town. Its resemblance to Oberammergau is in the essentially religious character of the festival, the penneating Protestant sentiment of which is admirably expressed in the music of Bach. The festival of 1901 was remarkable as being the first time in America in which the Christmas Oratorio had been given in its entirety. Besides this great work were given
the Passion according to Saint Matthew and the
Mass ill B Minor, the latter having been pre-
sented for the first time in America two years
before. J. Frederick Wolle, a pupil of Rhein-
berger, and the organist of the Moravian Church,
has charge of the music. The choir consists of
110 members, with a separate chorus of 100
boys, for the chorals, and an orchestra of 60
instrumentalists. They are all natives of the
place, with the exception of the leading vocal
and instrumental soloists. The festivals are of
a very high character, and it is purposed to continue their annual performance.
BETH'LEM. See Bedlam.
BETHLEN-GABOR, bet'len ga1)6r, or Ga-
BBiEL Bethlex, or Bethlehem (1580-1629).
Prince of Transylvania. 1613-29. He was a mem-
ber of a prominent Protestant family of Upper
Hungary, which possessed, also, important estates
in Transylvania. In 1613, with the assistance of
the Sultan, and in defiance of the Emperor, he was
made ruler of Transylvania. In 1619 he took
advantage of the Bohemian struggle, and openly
took up arms against Austria. He overran Hun-
gary, took Presburg, and spread devastation
and terror to the gates of Vienna. The enthu-
siastic Hungarians elected him King (1620).
His allies, the Protestants of Germany, having
been crushed in the battle of Prague,' Bethlen-
Oiflbor concluded peace with the Emperor Ferdi-
nand II., receiving the town of Kaschau, with
seven Hungarian counties adjoining Transyl-
vania, the principalities of Oppeln and Ratilior
in Silesia, and the dignity of Prince of the
Empire. This treaty, however, waa soon bro-
ken by the Emperor, and Bethlen-Gfibor, raising an army of 60.000 men, invaded iloravia,
and obtained the solemn renewal of the for-
mer treaty. His marriage with Catharine of
Brandenburg in 1625 involved him once more
in the Thirty Years' War; but he finally retired
from the contest in the following year, and
thenceforth devoted himself exclusively to the
internal affairs of Transylvania. He died in
1629, after a lingering and painful illness. He
was known as one of the 'three great Magvars'
of his age. Bethlen-Giibor was an able adminis-
trator as well as a brilliant general, and his
reign was as beneficial to Transylvania on the
side of internal progress as it was glorious for
its military exploits. He encouraged the sci-
ences and letters and promoted education. His
brother Stephex succeeded him, but was soon
compelled to resign the throne. To the same
family of Bethlen belong .JoHx and Wolfgaxg,
both chancellors of Transylvania, the former of
whom is celebrated for his work, Reruin Tran-
tijlvanicariim Lihri IT. (Hermannstadt, 1683),
which gives the history of the principality from
1629 to 1G63, and the latter of whom wrote a
history in 16 books, the MS. of which, from
long neglect, had been much damaged, but
which was afterwards restored and completed
and published (6 vols.) at Hermannstadt in
1792, under the title of Wolfpangi de Bethlen
Bistoria de Rebus Transi/hunicis. Io.ilj-l(i09.
BETHMANN-HOLLWEG, bat'man liol'vaK,
Moritz August von ( 1795-1877 ) . A German jur-
ist and statesman, born at Frankfort-on-the-Main. He studied law at Guttingen and Berlin, and became professor of civil law at Berlin. He
held a similar chair at Bonn from 1829 to 1842,
and in 1845 was appointed a counselor of State.
From 1849 to 1852 he was a member of the
First Chamber of the Prussian Parliament, and
from 1852 to 1855 a member of the Second Cham-
ber. He was Minister of Public Instruction from
1858 to 1862, and was a supporter of the Moder<
ate Constitutional Party. He published Griind-
riss zu Vorlesiingen iiberden gemeinen undpreus-
sischen Civilpro^ess (1832), Vrsprung der lorn-
hardischen Stiidtefreiheit (1846), Ueber Gesetx-
gebung und Rechtsirissenschaft als Aufgabe un-
serer Zeit (1876), and other works.
BETH’NAL GREEN. A metropolitan borough of Greater London. See LoxDOX.
BETH PE'OR (Heb., house or dwelling of Peor. i.e. the god of Baal-Peor). A city belonging to Reuben, opposite a ravine, in which Israel is said to have received the Deuteronomic laws
(Deut. iii. 29), and the locality in which Moses
is supposed to have been buried! The exact place
cannot be' identified, but that it was somewhere
in the Nebo-Pisgah Mountains seems certain.
If it is on the southern si<le of Wady Ayun
Musa, as some geographers hold, the "'ravine'
would be Wady Hesban. .in el-ilinyeh. on
the northern side of the mountain ridge, "has also
been suggested as a possible location of the city,
which has an extended view over the Plain of
Shittim. The former, however, would be more
accessible from the plain.
BETH'PHAGE ( Heb., house of figs) . A vil-
lage near Jerusalem, but a short distance from
Bethany (Mark xi. 1: Matt. .x.i. 1; Luke six.
29). The site is unknown.