up ran the ruffian through the body. Frustrated in their attempt at assassination, the mutineers sought safety in flight, but were apprehended and put in irons. After trial by court martial the ring-leaders were found guilty and shot.[73] Thus wonderfully was the General preserved for the important trusts committed to his care, and so narrowly was a calamity averted which would have plunged the Colony into the depths of uncertainty and peril. Had she been deprived, at this trying moment, of Oglethorpe’s guidance, Georgia, feeble and uncertain, would have been left well-nigh naked to her enemies. Spanish emissaries from St. Augustine endeavored to inaugurate an insurrection among the negroes of South Carolina. To them freedom and protection were promised. Every inducement was offered which could encourage not only desertion from, but also massacre of their owners. Of the run-away slaves the Governor of Florida had formed a regiment, appointing officers from among them, and placing both officers and enlisted men upon the pay and rations allowed to the regular Spanish soldiers. Of this fact the Carolina negroes were advised.[74] The pernicious influence of such tampering with this servile population may be more readily conjectured than described. Thus did Spain grow daily more and more offensive in the development of her plans for the destruction of the English Colonies adjacent to her possessions in Florida. To the vigilance of Oglethorpe is Carolina largely indebted for her escape from the horrors of a servile insurrection.[75]