The case went to trial, and was decided against Dr. King in three successive courts, the last of which was the Areopagus, or highest court of appeal. This was in April, 1846. In this latter court, he was well defended by two Greek lawyers, and permission was granted him, at his request, to address the court. But after about twenty minutes and repeated interruptions by the President, he was silenced altogether; not having the freedom which the Pagan Areopagus of ancient times gave to the first missionary to Greece. The effect of these decisions was to declare the offenses charged against Dr. King to be criminal in law, and to refer the case, for trial as to the truth of the charges and the infliction of punishment, to the criminal court. If condemned, he must suffer imprisonment. The trial was to take place at Syra in July. An inflammatory pamphlet was secretly printed by a priest, named Callistratus, for distribution at the place of trial among judges, jurors, and the populace. It was industriously circulated among the lowest class, with the avowed sanction of the high priest of the Cyclades. Dr. King soon ascertained that a conspiracy was formed there against his life, similar to the one which endangered the life of the great Apostle on his last visit to Jerusalem. Three Greek lawyers were engaged for his defense at Syra, of whom one was Mr. Stephen Galatti, who had been educated by the Board in America, and two of these accompanied him in the steamer. At least a thousand people awaited his landing. Such was the excitement, that even the lawyers dreaded to go among them, and the governor of the island confessed his inability to give effectual protection. The king's attorney decided, that he could not be legally compelled to submit to a trial on that day. His lawyers therefore advised him to return in the steamer to Athens, which he did. Learning, soon after his arrival, through his wife, of a combination there to take his life, he acquainted Sir Edmund Lyons, the British Ambassador, with the fact, and that gentleman kindly offered him British protection in case of need.