As the year ended, the mind of the country was disturbed by tales of impending war. The Princess Louis of Hesse and the Crown Prince of Prussia both warned the Queen of the dangers which menaced Europe. France had arranged to withdraw her troops from Rome in order to attack Germany, and a Spanish garrison was to be substituted as the Pope’s guard. From the letters of the Princess, it is plain that the Queen comforted her relatives by assuring them that, from her information, it was clear there would be no war. Napoleon’s scheme for garrisoning Rome by Spanish troops was upset by the sudden outbreak of a revolution in Spain, provoked partly by the reactionary policy, but mainly by the personal misconduct of the Queen Isabella. Violent measures of repression were adopted to crush the conspiracy. On the 18th of September a revolt broke out at Cadiz, and the Queen and her dynasty were dethroned. General Prim and Marshal Serrano formed a Provisional Government, which, however, relegated to the Cortes the task of determining the destinies of the nation. Much more serious was the sudden rupture between Greece and Turkey at the end of the year. It was remembered that Lord Clarendon--who had been appointed Foreign Secretary in deference to the Queen’s partiality for him--was the Minister [Illustration: WINDSOR CASTLE, FROM THAMES STREET, AND “BIT” OF THE OUTER WALLS.] under whose guidance England had drifted into the Crimean War. The re-opening of the Eastern Question immediately after he took office was considered to be ominous of mischief. For two years there had been friction between Greece and Turkey, the cause being that the Greeks had been assisting the Cretan insurgents both with men and money. The Sultan at last, in a fit of impatience, sent an Ultimatum to Greece threatening war unless the Government made reparation to Turkey for the support which it had given to the Cretan rebellion. The Great Powers obtained for Greece an extension of time for her reply to the 17th of December, and on that date the Athenian Government rejected the Ultimatum. But the rise of Germany had altered all the conditions under which Russia as patron of Greece could attack Constantinople, and it rendered the Anglo-French alliance no longer desirable. Still a Conference was proposed by Count Bismarck in the closing days of 1868 to prevent war, whilst the Greeks were arming in hot haste, and Hobart Pasha was blockading Syria. The great danger lay in Clarendon’s possible adherence to Palmerstonian traditions. If he declared for war in defence of Turkey with France as an ally, the prospect was dismal. Such a policy meant that England would have to face the combination of Germany, and perchance Italy with Russia, and it is certain that the Queen, like the nation, would have resisted it to the last. The Conference did its work well--as might have been expected. It had been proposed by Bismarck, who had a reputation for never associating his name with failures, and the