Farel re-appeared in Neuchatel.[990] Being master of the lower part of the town, he raised his eyes to the lofty rocks on which soared the cathedral and the castle. The best plan, thought he, is to bring these proud priests down to us. One morning his young friends spread themselves in the streets, and posted up large placards bearing these words: "_All_ _those who say Mass are robbers, murderers, and seducers of the people_."[991] Great was the uproar in Neuchatel. The canons summoned their people, called together their clerks, and marching at the head of a large troop, armed with swords and clubs, descended into the town, tore down the sacrilegious placards, and cited Farel before the tribunal as a slanderer, demanding ten thousand crowns damages. [990] Farellus suo more magna fortitudine jam jam agit. Megander to Zwingle, 6th Aug. 1530. [991] De Chambrier, Hist. de Neuchatel, i. p. 293 The two parties appeared in court, and this was all that Farel desired. "I confess the fact," said he, "but I am justified in what I have done. Where are there to be found more horrible murderers, than these seducers who sell paradise, and thus nullify the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ? I will prove my assertion by the Gospel." And he prepared to open it, when the canons, flushed with anger, cried out: "The common law of Neuchatel, and not the Gospel, is in question here! Where are the witnesses?" But Farel, always returning to that fearful assertion, proved by the Word of God that the canons were really guilty of murder and robbery. To plead such a cause was to ruin Popery. The court of Neuchatel, that had never heard a similar case, resolved according to ancient custom to lay it before the Council of Besançon,[992] which not daring to pronounce the first estate of the General Audiences guilty of murder and robbery, referred the matter to the Emperor and to a general council. Bad causes gain nothing by making a disturbance. [992] Prendre les _entraives_. [Sidenote: CIVIL POWER INVOKED.] At every step they wished to drive him back, Farel made one in advance. The streets and the houses were still his temple. One day when the people of Neuchatel were around him, "Why," cried they, "should not the Word of God be proclaimed in a church?" They then hurried Farel along with them, opened the doors of the Hospital Chapel, set the minister in the pulpit, and a numerous crowd stood silent before him. "In like manner as Jesus Christ, appearing in a state of poverty and humility, was born in a stable at Bethlehem," said the Reformer; "so this hospital, this abode of the sick and of the poor, is to-day become his birthplace in the town of Neuchatel." Then feeling ill at ease in the presence of the painted and carved figures that decorated the chapel, he laid his hands on these objects of idolatry, removed them, and broke them in pieces.[993] [993] Choupart MS.