Riga, and having supplied the
place, marched with a handful of troops against the
Muscovites, who had undertaken the siege of Narva. The czar
quitted his army with some precipitation, as if he had been
afraid of hazarding his person, while Charles advanced
through ways that were thought impracticable, and surprised
the enemy. He broke into their camp before they had the
least intimation of his approach, and totally routed them
after a short resistance. He took a great number of
prisoners, with all their baggage, tents, and artillery, and
entered Narva in triumph.

The parliament meeting on the sixth, was prorogued to the tenth day of
February, when Mr. Harley was chosen speaker by a great majority, in
opposition to sir Richard Onslow. The king had previously told sir
Thomas Lyttleton, it would be for his service that he should yield his
pretensions to Harley at this juncture; and that gentleman agreed to
absent himself from the house on the day of election. The king observed
in his speech, that the nation's loss in the death of the duke of
Gloucester, had rendered it absolutely necessary for them to make
further provision for the succession of the crown in the protestant
line; that the death of the king of Spain had made such an alteration in
the affairs of the Continent, as required their mature deliberation. The
rest of his harangue turned upon the usual topics of demanding supplies
for the ensuing year, reminding them of the deficiencies and public
debts, recommending to their inquiry the state of the navy and
fortifications; exhorting them to encourage commerce, employ the poor,
and proceed with vigour and unanimity in all their deliberations. Though
the elections had been generally carried in favour of the tory interest,
the ministry had secured but one part of that faction. Some of the most
popular leaders, such as the duke of Leeds, the marquis of Normanby, the
earls of Nottingham, Seymour, Musgrave, Howe, Finch, and Showers, had
been either neglected or found refractory, and resolved to oppose the
court measures with all their influence. Besides, the French king,
knowing that the peace of Europe would in a great measure depend on the
resolutions of the English parliament, is said to have distributed great
sums of money in England, by means of his minister Tallard, in order to
strengthen the opposition of the house of commons. Certain it is, the
nation abounded