Imperium in Imperio: A Study of the Negro Race Problem | Page 8

heart. But toward Bernard none of this evil spirit was
manifested. He seemed to have chosen Bernard for his pet, and Belton
for his "pet aversion." To the one he was all kindness; while to the
other he was cruel in the extreme.
Often he would purchase flowers from the florist and give to Bernard to
bear home to his mother. On these days he would seemingly take pains
to give Belton fresh bruises to take home to his mother. When he had a
particularly good dinner he would invite Bernard to dine with him, and
would be sure to find some pretext for forbidding Belton to partake of

his own common meal.
Belton was by no means insensible to all these acts of discrimination.
Nor did Bernard fail to perceive that he, himself, was the teacher's pet.
He clambered on to the teacher's knees, played with his mustache, and
often took his watch and wore it. The teacher seemed to be truly fond
of him.
The children all ascribed this partiality to the color of Bernard's skin,
and they all, except Belton, began to envy and despise Bernard. Of
course they told their parents of the teacher's partiality and their parents
thus became embittered against the teacher. But however much they
might object to him and desire his removal, their united protests would
not have had the weight of a feather. So the teacher remained at
Winchester for twelve years. During all these years he instructed our
young friends Belton and Bernard.
Strangely enough, his ardent love for Bernard and his bitter hatred of
Belton accomplished the very same result in respect to their
acquirements. The teacher soon discovered that both boys were talented
far beyond the ordinary, and that both were ambitious. He saw that the
way to wound and humiliate Belton was to make Bernard excel him.
Thus he bent all of his energies to improve Bernard's mind. Whenever
he heard Belton recite he brought all of his talents to bear to point out
his failures, hoping thus to exalt Bernard, out of whose work he strove
to keep all blemishes. Thus Belton became accustomed to the closest
scrutiny, and prepared himself accordingly. The result was that Bernard
did not gain an inch on him.
The teacher introduced the two boys into every needed field of
knowledge, as they grew older, hoping always to find some branch in
which Bernard might display unquestioned superiority. There were two
studies in which the two rivals dug deep to see which could bring forth
the richest treasures; and these gave coloring to the whole of their
afterlives. One, was the History of the United States, and the other,
Rhetoric.
In history, that portion that charmed them most was the story of the

rebellion against the yoke of England. Far and wide they went in search
of everything that would throw light on this epoch. They became
immersed in the spirit of that heroic age.
As a part of their rhetorical training they were taught to declaim.
Thanks to their absorption in the history of the Revolution, their minds
ran to the sublime in literature; and they strove to secure pieces to
declaim that recited the most heroic deeds of man, of whatever
nationality.
Leonidas, Marco Bozarris, Arnold Winklereid, Louis Kossuth, Robert
Emmett, Martin Luther, Patrick Henry and such characters furnished
the pieces almost invariably declaimed. They threw their whole souls
into these, and the only natural thing resulted. No human soul can
breathe the atmosphere of heroes and read with bated breath their deeds
of daring without craving for the opportunity to do the like. Thus the
education of these two young men went on.
At the expiration of twelve years they had acquired an academic
education that could not be surpassed anywhere in the land. Their
reputation as brilliant students and eloquent speakers had spread over
the whole surrounding country.
The teacher decided to graduate the young men; and he thought to
utilize the occasion as a lasting humiliation of Belton and exaltation of
his favorite, Bernard Belgrave. Belton felt this.
In the first part of this last school year of the boys, he had told them to
prepare for a grand commencement exercise, and they acted
accordingly. Each one chose his subject and began the preparation of
his oration early in the session, each keeping his subject and treatment
secret from the other.
The teacher had announced that numerous white citizens would be
present; among them the congressman from the district and the mayor
of the town. Belton determined upon two things, away down in his soul.
He determined to win in the oratorical contest, and to get his revenge
on his teacher on the day that the teacher had planned for his--(Belton's)

humiliation. Bernard did not have the incentive that