A Few WORDS Minding the REPRESENTATIVE OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF ENGLAND How they may pay their Armies, and ease the People of their Taxes, which have a long time been a heavy burden upon the poorer sort.  
And the sixth Angel poured out his Vial upon the great River Euphrates, and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the Kings of the East might be prepared.  Rev. 16. 12. 
WILLIAM BANES.  
LONDON, Printed, and are to be sold at the Black-spread-Eagle near the west end of Paul's, 1659.   

A few words, minding the Representative of the Commonwealth of England, how they may pay their Armies, and ease the People of their Taxes.  
AS every one that is a true Believer which hath felt & tasted of the good word of life, the anointing which teacheth all things, Jesus Christ revealed and made manifest within, doth know and can witness the fulfilling of the prophecies in himself; so is there also, and shall be a fulfilling of them without in the world, among the Nations. The City of Babylon was situated on an Island in the River Euphrates, so that the waters did encompass the City that nothing could pass or come to it but by virtue and benefit of the Waters of the River; and this was that great City which was so eminent among the Nations for her great Idolatry; and against this City the Prophets did prophesy, Esay 46. 47. jer. 50. 38. 51. 74. 52. 47. and this City of Babylon was a figure of Mystery Babylon the great, the Mother of Harlots, and abominations of the earth; and the whole National Clergy, or Parochial Curates and Priests, with all their Attendants, and the Steeplehouses and Academies, and those which send them forth; this whole rabble (in all nations which call themselves Christians) is this Mystery Babylon, the great Whore that sitteth upon many Waters, and corrupteth the earth, and with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabiters of the Earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornications: Rev. 17. 2. 5. 18. 3. 11. 19 2. and this is found true here in England by woeful experience; for are not our false self-erected Priests as bad as those which the Prophets called greedy dumb dogs, that sought their gain from their quarter, and could never have enough; which preached for hire, and divined for money, and speak peace to the wicked for the gift sake; but if it was not put into their mouths they prepared war against them: And these are the Merchants of the earth which are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies, and they shall weep and mourn over her, for no man buyeth their Merchandise any more: These are sayers and not doers, and love to be called of men Master, & bind heavy burdens upon the people: Isa. 56. Jer. 5. 23. Mich. 3. 5. Matth. 23. it is time for us to go out from Babel, from these Antichristian shepherds, who goeth into the sheepfold at the thievish backdoor, covering their Wickedness with Christ's sufferings and death, and with false hypocrisy to please men for their favour and reward; and is not all done for money? And by the wit and subtlety of this Whore of Babel, are the people lead on to hypocritical ways: She boasteth much of her faith, and leads people on in an historical faith, which is but mere notion: She teacheth the notion, and he that doth not stick to that is counted an Heretic: She is big with darkness and wrath, and yet she always cryeth out, Here is the true church, flock all hither; yes, run after the Whore of Babel who is big with stately pride; give something towards her childbed that she may satisfy her hypocritical stinking pride: She is like a Whore, who when she is said to be a whore, will not endure it, but curse and rail; and so also when the spirit of truth layeth her open, than she cries, O Heretiok, Heretic, begun from him all of you, the Devil is in him: Thus is the spirit of God miscalled, because they do not know it: And the sixth Angel poured out: etc.  
And the Waters of the River Euphrates which encompassed the city Babylon were a figure of the corrupt and unjust Laws of the Nations, by virtue of which this My-Mystery Babylon doth demand and exact from the people their undeserved hire, and illgotten reward, and it doth bring them a curse along with it, as may be seen generally in their posterities.  
And now oh Parliament of England see with your own eyes, and look inward and discern the signs of the times; and between the righteous and the wicked; between him that serveth the Lord, and him that serveth him not; and in regard the tithe or tenth of the increase of the earth is due and payable from the people to the State, and it amounting to such a vast revenue, let it be given no longer to such an undeserving and unthankful generation of men as the Priests of these Nations are; but let it be employed to maintain our Armies against the enemies and disturbers of our peace, of which the Priests are chief; so that it may no more assist (as now it doth) our spiritual enemy the Devil in his agents the wi●ked Priests; many of which like hellhounds being greedy after the blood of the righteous, by stirring up the unjust Magistrate against them, have procured their imprisonment till death. Oh horrible wickedness, that the chief Magistrates hath connived at these things! for which, together with their pride, the Lord hath cut them off in their full strength. Christ doth not send out his messengers to be persecuters, as Wolves among sheep: but his must be as sheep among wolves: but this Whore of Babel is a great devouring wolf, and she is one and the same in all Nations, only there is some difference in her garb and dress: and now let it appear that the Lord hath chosen you to be his instruments to do his work, whereby our Nation of England, and its Dominions may be happy in being the first, that falleth off from her spiritual Idolatry. Consider how the Almighty hath situated this Nation, in his infinite providence: that it might be an example and a forerunner to other Nations in doing his great work. We have seen the pouring forth of the fifth vial upon the seat of the Beast in this Nation, viz. the Antichristian Magistrate, and his kingdom (viz. his party) full of darkness, and how at this very time they do gnaw their tongues for pain and madness, and how the Lord hath cut him off that set himself up in this seat, not having regard to do his work: and now the sixth angel is pouring forth his vial in this Nation, and the great allowance whereby the Antichristian priesthood is maintained and kept up in their stately pride, must be taken away, wherefore be ye willing to do the Lords work, in this the day of his power. Rev. 16. 19 and your enemies, though more than ten for one, shall be as dust before the wind, and as stubble to the fire; for they are the blind, zealous, selfconceited, Pharisaical hypocrites, with the priests, & the blackmouthed, ignorant, rude multitude, and though you do it not, yet ●e ye sure this work shall be done before this generation (which are now grown men) pass away; remember Jehu, and others: therefore do ye not the Lords work to halfs, and be ye sure that you leave none of those waters running in the channel of that river, but let it be made quite dry, that the kings of the earth may pass without any let or hindrance; for they do bring the message of truth, and deliver it freely, not demanding any reward, it is glad tidings of great joy, a revealing of the mystery that hath been hid from ages, and these are the true Magis, or wise men (though fools in the world's account) that have seen the morning star of the Son of righteousness, the light of Jesus Christ in the soul, the voice of him who is the Son of God, by an eternal generation, calling to the sons of men, and checking their consciences in the first motion or thoughts of committing sin, saying, This is the way, walk in it; and whosoever saith this is natural, is a liar, and shall have his portion with them; and by harkening to this voice, and following of this light, they have found him whom their soul loveth, that pearl of great price, which makes them sell all their own righteousness and earthly vanity to buy it, which is the true Messiah, Christ now made manifest within; and they freely and willingly showeth all, how they found him, and where he dwelleth, but none regardeth, nor will go to see, saving those who are true Israelites indeed. And these are those which the world (out of scorn and Antichristian fury) rails at and calls them Quakers, not considering the Scriptures, which saith, they, and they only are God's people, who are humble and resigned in him, and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at his word, Isa. 66. 25. Babel maketh a great stir, and talketh much of the Scriptures, but maketh no other use of them, but only to palliate or cloak their ungodly vicious lives, but these people are those which do make the right use of the Scriptures, because they do understand them; for they have the true key, the revealing mystery within them, which is the hidden Manna, the white stone, the new name written, which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it, there is a continual giving and receiving of the flow of life. As for my own particular I am a stranger to these people as to the outward (being in my Calling a Chirurgeon, having been a servant to this commonwealth, abroad in their armies ever since the Earl of Essex marched forth of London, and these last ten years in the Service of Ireland) but in their heavenly Doctrine my soul is knit to them, and I can witness it, and set to my seal, that it is the truth, as it is in Jesus. Happy were England if it did know its own good, in having these people in it; but the contemners of them, will one day see their error, to their eternal misery, when they shall cry out as Solomon saith in his book of Wisdom 3. chap. 2. v. in the sight of the unwise shepherd to die, and their end was thought grievous, and their departing from us destruction, but they are in peace. ch. 5. v. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. when they see him, they shall be vexed with horrible fear, and shall be amazed for his wonderful deliverance, and shall change their minds, and sigh for grief of mind, and say within themselves, This is he whom we sometime had in derision, and in a parable of reproach: we fool's thought his life madness, and his end without honour. How is he counted among the children of God, and his portion is among the saints! therefore we have erred from the way of truth, and the light of righteousness hat● not shined unto us, and the son of understanding risen not upon us. woe to those that cherish vice, and discountenance virtue, but happy shall he be that chooseth rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, then to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.  
THE END.