Born in 1584, died in 1643; entered Parliament in 1621; one of the managers of Buckingham's impeachment trial in 1626; advocated the Petition of Right in 1628 ; assisted in the impeachment of Strafford and Laud; one of the five members whose arrest was attempted by Charles I. in 1642.
Never Parliament had greater business to dispatch, nor more difficulties to encounter; therefore we have reason to take all advantages of order and address, and hereby we shall not only do our own work, but dispose and enable ourselves for the better satisfaction of his majesty's desire of supply. The grievances being removed, our affections will carry us with speed and cheerfulness, to give his majesty that which may be sufficient both for his honor and support. Those that in the very first place shall endeavor to redress the grievances, will be found not to hinder, but to be the best furtherers of his majesty's service. He that takes away weights, doth as
- ↑ Delivered on April 17, 1640, in what is known as the Short Parliament. Abridged. Clarendon describes how, after the King's address, Pym rose to speak "while men gazed upon each other looking who should begin." In 1641 Pym's speech was printed as "a speech delivered in Parliament by J, P., Esq." As corrected by Pym himself, it is found among the Thomason tracts.
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