Escape of the Elector of Bavaria (1702)

"Our proceedings soon attracted a number of the burghers, one of whom, becoming impatient at seeing our examination of the place, began to abuse us, and eventually so lost his self control, that he took aim at the Elector, declaring that he would smash his "Shrove Tuesday Mask" for him.
Happily a worthy lawyer was of their number, who knocked aside the gun and advised the man to be careful what he was doing, saying that the Bavarians wished for nothing better than to have such a pretext for ravaging their own towns and lands.  But the brute was obstinate and aimed a second time at the Elector, exclaiming that the mask annoyed him, and that he did not care for consequences of any sort.  The lawyer, who kept a sharp eye on him, once again prevented him from firing, and thus saved the life of the Elector.  It made one tremble to learn from the burghers, after the surrender of the town, the risk His Highness had run.  Had not the lawyer prevented this single shot the Bavarian War would have come to an end."

Quote from pg. 93, Chronicles of an Old Campaigner by M. De la Colonie, translated by Walter C. Horsley

Image by Richard Knotel