On 17 March 1830, the majority in the Chamber of Deputies passed a motion of no confidence, the Address of the 221, against the king and Polignac's ministry. The following day, Charles dissolved parliament, and then alarmed the Bourbon opposition by delaying elections for two months. During this time, the liberals championed the "221" as popular heroes, whilst the government struggled to gain support across the country as prefects were shuffled around the departments of France. The elections that followed returned an overwhelming majority, thus defeating the government. This came after another event: on the grounds that it had behaved in an offensive manner towards the crown, on 30 April the king abruptly dissolved the National Guard of Paris, a voluntary group of citizens and an ever reliable conduit between the monarchy and the people. Cooler heads were appalled: " would rather have my head cut off", wrote a noble from the Rhineland upon hearing the news, "than have counseled such an act: the only further measure needed to cause a revolution is censorship."