KIDO. 483 KEEFT. secured the abolition of the feudal system and the rilinquishuient by 270 duiiiiios of thuir lands and incume to the -Mikado. Ktcogniziiig the neuspupor press as a potent element in civiliza- tion, he founded in 1808, at his own exi)ense, the first regular newspaper, called the Hhimbuti Zusshi. In 187:< he was vice-ambassador with Iwakura in the embassy round the world. He caused the translation and publication in Japan- ese, in eight volumes, of Montesquieu's great work, l/expril dcs loix, the reading of which by the educated classes in Japan ripened public sen- timent for the Constitution of 188'J. Return- ing to Japan, he secured the formation of an assembly of local rulers; was made a I'rivy Coun- cilor of the Kinpcror, and was in attendance upon the Mikado until his death in Kioto, May il, 1877. He was a man of preeminent political genius, stainless life, and gentle manners. At the promulgation of the Constitution, his abilities were recognized in posthumous honors, and in the elevation ot his son to the nobility. KIDTION (Heb. KidrUn) . A valley east of Jerusalem, the modern Wudy Sitti Maryam or 'Valley of the Lady -Mary,' also called Wady Sil- wan, the A'alley of Siloah.' It begins north of the city at the foot of Mount Scopus, continues in a soullierly direction toward the city, then takes a bend eastward, extends between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives, and may be said to terminate south of the city at En Rogcl, though the de- pression proceeds under the name of Wady en- Nar southeast toward the Dead Sea. The valley is now dry ; but in ancient times there was a brook in it, and the true bed of the stream was found 38^<! feet below the present channel in 18G8. The following year an aqueduct cut through the rock was discovered, and in 1880 an inscription, giving an account of the construction of the channel. (See Siloam.) The Kidron is first referred to in II. Sam. xv. 23, where David in fleeing from -4bsaloni is said to have crossed it. In I. Kings ii. 37, Shimei is forbidden by Absalom to cross Kidron. Some scholars have drawn the inference from the fact that Shimei lied in the direction of Oath that Kidron was the name of some part of the western ravine. Hut the text is probably corrupt, and should be read •by any road' instead of 'the brook Kidron.' Ac- cording to I. Kings XV. 13, II. Chron. xv. 16, Asa burned at Kidron the idol which his mother had set up; according to II. Kings xxiii. 4, 6, 12, Josiah burned at Kidron the ashera that had been in the temple. (See .siier..) The account in 11. Chron. .vxix. 10, .kxx. 14 of Uczekiah's cast- ing into th? Iviilron tlic altars that were found in Jerusalem and the abominations of the temple is hardlv historical. The popular name 'Valley of Jehoshaphat' dates back to the fourth century A.D. It appears in the Onomasticon of Eusebius (272, 89), and in the Onomaxticon of Jerome (145. 13). It is based upon Joel iii. I-I2, but the identificjition is manifestly incorrect. (See jEHOsHAPitAT, Valu:y OF.) The belief that this valley will be the scene of the last judgment (see J I DOME-XT, Fix.M.) has led both Jews and Mo- hammedans to make of it a burial-ground, and its slopes arc covered with tombs. The .lews have used especially the eastern side toward the Mount of Olives, while the Mohammedans are huried on the west toward the Temple, .ccording to .John XA'iii. 1. just before the betrayal Jesus went forth with His disciples across the ravine Kidron, "where was a garden.' Consult: Robinson, Bibli- cnl Itcsearches in I'alcstine (Xew York, 1857); Tobler, Die Siloahquelle und dcr Oelberg ( Berlin, 1852) ; Warren and Conder, Jerusalem (London, 1884); Wil.son. The Holy City (London, 1888); Benzinger, Hebrdische Archdologie ( Freiburg, 1894) ; Buhl, (leoyraphic dcs Alten Paliislina (Freiburg, 1890) ; Kennedy, article '"Kidron," in Oiclionary of the Bi6Je"(Xew York, 1899); Chcyiie, article "Kidron," in Encydojmdin liihlica (London, l')01); Guthe, article "" Jerusalem,'" m Kttrzcs Biheliciirterbuch (Freiburg, 1903). KIEF, ke'ef. A government of Russia. See I-OEV. KTEFT^ keft. Willem (?-I647). Dutch colonial administrator, Director-General of Xew Xetherlands. Little is known of his life before he came to America except that for a time he acted as the minister of the Dutch (iovernment to Turkey. From the day of his arrival in March, 1638, he showed a tyrannical spirit which soon set the people against him. He was pomp- ous, hypocritical, cowardly, an<l vengeiul. and lacked administrative abilitj'. With the excep- tion of the Indian wars, the most noteworthy events of his administration were the bat- tles of words and law which he fought with Dominie Everardus Bogardus, the tailor Hen- drick Jansen, and others of his subjects. The prospects for a rapid growth of the colony were bright when Kieft arrived in X'ew Xetherland, for the Dutch West India Company, disgusted with the small results of the patroon system, offered inducements to poorer immigrants, and many of this class were coming to the country and taking up farms along the Hudson, and on Staten and Long Islands. The Director-General, to maka room for these .settlers, in 1040 sent his soldiers to murder the Raritan Indians, an ex- ploit which was only partially successful, and which was so soon and thoroughly revenged that even he seems to have lost some of his self- assurance. Consequently, when. In February, 1043, the River Indians, fleeing from the Mo- hawks, sought shelter in the iieighl)orhood of X'ew -Xmsterilam, Kieft thought best to secure the sig:iaturcs of three citizens to a petition before he ordered out his soldiers to destroy them. The massacre which followed is one of the most coldblooded in the annals of .merica. The sav- ages, relying on the protection of the Dutch, whom they had every reason to believe friendly, were taken totally unawares, and more than a hundred were slaughtered. Then began a war which resulted in the destruction of the In- dians, but meantime the prosperity of the colony was ruined, farms were desolated and settlers massacred. Popular nige against the Director-General knew- no bounds, and, after a vain attempt to shelter himself behind the petition, which resulted only in his being as- saulted by one of the signers, he called a meet- ing of the heads of families and these selected a Council of Twelve, or the 'Twelve Men,' as it was called, which was to act as an advisory committee. This, the beginning of self-govern- ment in Xew York, was more in semblance than in sub-stance, for Kieft paid but slight attention to the councils of the twelve. Mean- while the English on the east and the Swedes on the Delaware had taken advantage of these internal troubles to found strung colonies on Dutch soil, and finally the company, influenced
