(Nararino), an ancient town of Messina. Originally it seems to have stood at the foot of Mount Eryxos. In that situation it was probably the "Sandy Pylos" so often mentioned in Homer as the city of Nestor. Thither the venerable patriarch returned after the siege of Troy, and there he was found several years afterwards by the wandering Telemachus, still enjoying a green old age amid a family of valiant and intelligent sons. When the Nestorian capital was destroyed, the name Pylus was transferred to a new city on the neighbouring promontory of Coryphasium. This town in its turn was left to fall into decay and ruin when its inhabitants, at the end of the second Messenian war, emigrated in a body. Pylus then remained desolate and unfrequented until, in 425 B.C., it became the scene of one of the severest checks which Sparta received in the Peloponnesian war. In that year a fort, built on the site of the ruined city, and garrisoned by a small Athenian force under Demosthenes, was unsuccessfully attacked by a body of Lacedaemonians. The assailants found themselves foiled on all hands. On attempting to land in front of the stronghold, they were repulsed. Equally vain was their endeavour to maintain a blockade by settling down on the wild and rugged island of Sphacteria to the south of the fort. In course of time an Athenian fleet arrived, and, taking up its position in the Bay of Pylus, between the island and the mainland, blockaded them in their turn. They were now completely at the mercy of their enemies. In vain did they sue for a truce. Much harder conditions were in store for them. In no long time they were surprised in their strong position by a body of troops under Cleon, and were forced to give up their arms. (See Navarino.)

Pym, John, an English patriot and orator, was the son of a Somersetshire squire, and was born at Brymore in 1584. Having prepared for college, he entered Broadgate Hall (now Pembroke College), Oxford, where he equipped himself with all the resources and accomplishments of polite learning. On leaving the university he repaired to one of the inns of court, and stored his mind with the principles and details of common law. It was his good fortune to be appointed to an office in the Exchequer, where he could acquire business tact and financial skill. At length, in 1614, as member for the borough of Colne, he tested his political knowledge and oratorical powers on the great field of parliamentary debate. But it was not until 1620 that Pym began to take an active part in the resistance which the House of Commons was then making to the crooked and arrogant policy of James I. He placed himself by the side of those earnest men who were then forming themselves into a country party. The details of his deeds, it is true, have not been described; but at intervals his name becomes audible, and his form is seen amid the turmoil of the contest. At one time the monarch, balked by the Parliament in his schemes of kingcraft, is heard calling him "a very ill-tempered spirit." Shortly afterwards, he is found in the number of the twelve commissioners, or (as James in a mood of silly sarcasm designated them), "the twal kynges," who went to his majesty at Newmarket with a vindication of the privileges of Parliament. Then he is seen along with Coke, Phillips, and Mallory, standing before the council-table, and receiving a sentence of imprisonment in the Tower for his incorrigible opposition to the court. The parliamentary activity of Pym increased after the accession of Charles I. in 1625. The cause of his country then became the task of his life. At all times, and in every place, his vigorous mind was still occupied with the one great object. He studied his speeches late into the night, at his house in Gray's Inn Lane. He explored, in search of precedents, every state-paper in the manuscript collections at Lambeth. He was found in the chair at every religious meeting which the serious-minded politicians of those troublous times convened. There was not an important discussion in the House in which his eloquent tongue was not heard vindicating the liberties of the people against the pusillanimous stratagems of the crown. At the bar of the Lords, too, he sometimes appeared to plead the cases which the Commons had taken up. It was there that he impeached Buckingham, the favourite of the king, for embezzling the public property; it was there that he arraigned Mainwaring, a creature of Laud, for employing all the persuasions and fulminations of the pulpit to advocate despotism. Nor when Charles brought affairs nearer to a crisis, by abandoning the custom of convoking Parliaments, and by governing by prerogative, did he hate one jot of his opposition. He opened a communication with the protesting covenanters of Scotland. He rode with Hampden through several of the counties, instigating the people to petition the coming Parliament. His weapons of eloquence also seem to have been diligently prepared; for on the meeting of the Short Parliament in 1640, he delivered a speech of the length of two hours, which immediately brought the court party to bay, and gave occasion for a speedy dissolution.

It was, however, as a member of the Long Parliament that Pym rose to the height of his influence. The title of "King Pym," which was applied to him in ridicule, well describes the authority which he now began to wield. To lead was a duty for which his genius and multifarious acquirements well fitted him. The Parliament had not long commenced before he arraigned the Earl of Strafford at the bar of the House of Lords, on the charge of high treason. The legal evidence was not sufficient; but recourse was had to a bill of attainder. Concluding the impeachment on the 13th of April 1641, he triumphantly proved that the earl's government in Ireland had been subversive of "the fundamental laws" of the kingdom; and he demanded in works of terrific directness and emphasis that sentence of death should be passed upon the prisoner. "Nothing," said he, "can be more equal than that he should perish by the justice of that law which he would have subverted. Neither will this be a new way of blood. There are marks enough to trace this law to the very original of this kingdom; and if it hath not been put in execution, as he allegeth, these 240 years, it was not for want of law, but that all that time hath not bred a man bold enough to commit such crimes as these." Judgment was given in accordance with this demand; and the champion of the popular cause soon proceeded to assail other pliant servants of the king. He again appeared at the bar of the House of Lords to press the impeachment of Laud, on the charge of high treason. Not long afterwards he was the mover of the Grand Remonstrance to the monarch and the people, which, after enumerating a long list of grievances, concluded with the petition that the bishops should be deprived of their votes.

After the civil war had commenced, Pym continued to maintain his prominent position and influence. While the other chiefs of the Parliament were advocating their principles on the field of battle, he was in London ably conducting the executive. With masterly eloquence, he calmed the fears and excited the affections of the popular meetings in the Guildhall. With vigorous tact he defeated Waller's plot, and dragged the conspirators forth to punishment.

By this time, however, the continual toils and anxieties of Pym were fast bringing his career to a close. In November 1643 royalist horses were standing constantly saddled and bridled in the stables at London, ready to ride with the news of his death to the king at Oxford. On the 8th of December intelligence was brought to the Commons that their leader had just died at Derby House. They resolved to pay him the last honours with all the marks of esteem which lay in their power. On the 15th of the same month ten of the chief gentlemen among the Commons carried his bier on their shoulders; both Houses of Parliament walked before in mourning; and he was buried "with wonderful pomp and magnificence" in Westminster. Pynaker Abbey. The nation erected a monument over his tomb, and appointed themselves the guardians of his family.

(See an able and erudite Life of John Pyn, containing numerous interesting extracts from his speeches, in Forster's *British Statesmen*, published in Lardner's "Cabinet Cyclopaedia.")