Like Joseph II, the Dutch King refused to hear their complaints, and continued to offend the Belgian people. In 1830 an event of great importance fanned the revolt into flame.[20] In July the people of Paris overthrew the French legitimist monarchy and the government of Charles X. Just as the Brabant Revolution of 1789 was inspired in the first instance by events in Paris and by the fall of the Bastile, so the “July days” gave the final impulse to the Belgians in August. On the evening of August 25, the Brussels Opera House gave a performance of Auber’s _La Muette de Portici_. When the hero of the piece sang the famous air appealing for revolt and liberty, the effect on the emotions of his hearers was such as to cause them to rush into the streets and then and there inaugurate a revolt against the Dutch. They sacked the house of Van Maenen, the unpopular minister of William I, and that of Libri, the editor of the official governmental newspaper, and attacked the homes of many against whom hatred had long been growing. A guard of citizens was raised to maintain order and a Committee of Regency was established in the Hôtel de Ville. The French tricolor, which had first been hoisted--and this proves the interference of French clubs at the beginning of the Revolution--was replaced by the old Brabant tricolor (black, yellow, red), which is now the Belgian flag. The other chief towns followed and confined their Dutch garrisons within the citadels and forts. Meanwhile a deputation was sent to the King, to petition for the administrative separation of Belgium and Holland, retaining, however, their personal union. William I, unaware of the gravity of the situation, paid scarcely any attention to the delegates. He sent a Dutch army nearly 10,000 strong, with many guns, under Prince Frederick, his younger son, to attack Brussels, where the revolutionists held the lower town. The troops fought their way to the very heart of the upper town, but were stopped at the Place Royale by the stubborn resistance of the Belgian volunteers. These were merely Brussels citizens, reinforced by 300 volunteers from Liège under Charles Rogier, 200 from Louvain, with Jenneval, author of the “Brabançonne,”[21] and others from various Walloon towns. For three days there was terrible street fighting, and on the night of September 26-27 Prince Frederick, with at least 1,500 killed and many wounded, admitted his defeat and left Brussels. Meanwhile a provisional government had been established, composed of Baron d’Hoogvorst, the commander of the volunteers; Charles Rogier, who afterward became the Belgian prime minister; Count Felix de Merode; Van de Weyer, afterward Belgian minister in London; Gendebien, the leader of the French party among the revolutionists, Joly, and De Potter. On October 4, 1830, this provisional government declared Belgium an independent state, and announced its intention of preparing a constitution which was to