By the morning of March 13 virtually the entire colony had deserted him. Moral stood practically alone against the people of Saint Augustine, the soldiers at Fort San Marcos, and the Cuban officer who had come to replace him. Still he would not give up. When Justis again demanded the keys to the fort and the town, Moral again refused, but this time he did not respond with threats or bribes. Instead, he fled to the sanctuary of the Franciscan convent, where he would be temporarily safe from his persecutors and could lay new plans. In the meantime, Justis took formal possession of the governorship from the treasurer and the accountant. [Note: interim gov to king 11/22/1737] With Moral still at large, Justis still had a real problem. Enjoying ecclesiastical sanctuary in the convent, Moral could not be extricated by force and might remain there permanently. There was also danger that he would escape under cover of darkness and flee to Georgia. AN391 Justis thus surrounded the convent with 24 grenadiers under the command of Felipe de Iturrieta, who was certain to carry out his assignment with a vengeance. At the same time the new governor sent word into the convent asking Moral to give himself up. Speaking through a friar, Moral replied that Justis had misconstrued his visit to the convent. He was not seeking sanctuary, as most Floridians had assumed; he was carrying on colonial business with the Franciscans. He promised to leave but at his own good pleasure. At this Justis lost patience. In strong terms he told Moral’s spokesman that he would seize the former governor forcibly if he did not come out immediately, even if it meant violating the sanctity of the convent. He was through bickering with Moral. The Franciscan, however, was not intimidated by this threat. He asserted calmly that any attempt by the governor’s soldiers to take Moral within the walls of the friary would be considered a usurpation of clerical rights and reported to authorities in Spain. (Tepaske GSF)