for Greece, heaped together from every quarter,
no one became more to be feared, and more destructive, than the
imposter and deceiver, Jonas King. A man of much speech, of powerful
sophistry, of infinite subtlety, of hypocrisy incarnate, uniting in
himself, also, boldness and great pecuniary means, he was able to
proceed to such lengths, profiting for many years from the double
indifference of the political and ecclesiastical authorities, as to
proclaim publicly, that the act of the holy Synod against him of the
5th of August (19th, N. S.), was unjust and false."

There can be no doubt that a withdrawal from Greece, just at that
time, was the only judicious course to be pursued; and perhaps the
proceedings of the government, in view of the uncontrollable
excitement of the people, were all that could have been reasonably
expected. For a week after the departure of Dr. King, a guard of ten
or twelve soldiers was kept at his house, to protect it from the
mob.

Subsequently, the government went into a protracted examination of
the case, for which no satisfactory reason has been assigned. It had
the effect to delay the return of Dr. King, and it may have been
designed for that end. And perhaps they hoped, by eliciting the
truth, to allay public excitement.

Dr. King proceeded to Malta in November, that he might be nearer
Athens, and Mrs. King joined him there in February. About that time,
by advice of his counsel, he petitioned the Greek government to
bring the examination to a speedy close. While in Malta, he printed
his "Farewell Letter"1 in French and Italian, and the edition was
distributed in Malta, Sicily, Rome, Tuscany, and other places. An
edition of two thousand copies is said to have been printed in
Sicily in 1849, of which nine hundred copies were distributed in one
night, and seven hundred in another, apparently with good effect.

1 This letter is mentioned repeatedly in the second, third, and
seventh chapters. The reader, who is curious to see precisely what
it was, will find the translation of a large portion of it in the
_Missionary Herald_ for 1828, pp. 141-145.

CHAPTER XVIII.

DR. JONAS KING AND THE GREEK HIERARCHY.

1847-1869.

Impatient of longer delay, Dr. King boldly resolved upon returning
to Athens, and he arrived there on the 20th of June, 1848. He
assigns his reason for this in a letter to his Secretary: "I thought
it best," he writes, "to wait no longer, but to throw myself