formed right and left,
and tens of thousands of pounds will be raised, on the ground that "unto
him that hath shall be given"--in some cases, also, without neglecting
the rest of the text, that "from him that hath not shall be taken away
even that which he hath."

Who is the Princess May? Very likely a pleasant young lady. Happily
there are myriads of them in England. What has she ever done? She took
the trouble to be born. Her husband that is to be has an income from
"the service." His father has L36,000 a year, voted by Parliament, for
the express purpose of providing for his children--in addition to his
big income from other sources. All things considered, it does not seem
that Princess May and the Duke of York are in want of anything. But
how many other women--to say nothing of men--_are_ in want! Is not this
lavish generosity to a pair of royal and well-provided lovers an insult
to the working people of England? Is it not a special insult to the
multitude of poor, struggling women, whose earnings are taxed to support
the classes who lord it over them? It may, of course, be replied that
poor women like the idea of all these presents to the Princess. Perhaps
they do. But that only makes it worse. It shows their training has
corrupted them. The last vice of a slave is to admire his oppressor.

Christianity is satisfied with this state of things. Christian ministers
will wink at it, when they do not bless it and approve it with a text.
The Archbishop of Canterbury will officiate at the royal wedding, and
deliver one of those courtier-like homilies which may be expected from
one who takes L15,000 a year to preach the blessings of poverty and the
damnable nature of wealth. This is what comes of eighteen hundred years
of the "poor Carpenter's" religion. His texts of renunciation are idle
verbiage. His name is used to bamboozle the people, to despoil them, and
to make them patient asses under their burdens.

Religion and privilege go together. What does the New Testament say?
"Fear God and honor the king." Fearing God means supporting the clergy.
Honoring the king means keeping one family in foolish luxury, as a
symbol of the whole system of privilege which is maintained by the
systematic exploitation of the people. We are crucified between two
thieves who mock us, but do not share our cross; the spiritual thief,
who robs us of our birthright of mental freedom, and the temporal thief,
who robs us of the fruit of our labo