O'Leary's Dream of Empire

"Why!"gasped O'Leary. "He is a black!"

"Yes," replied Mathias, "and presently you will hear a tremendous defense of the institution of slavery--a defense backed by all the tricks of natural eloquence, wit, and surprising erudition; for that black, my friend, is the brightest man that ever graduated from the University of Coimbra. Notice his height and build. In short, watch him, watch him, watch him."

The black began to speak, and suddenly it came over O'Leary that this was the Baron of Matabello, the Beaconsfield of South America, thrice premier of the Brazilian empire. Then, as the Baron warmed to his work, it seemed to O'Leary that there were but two in the great hall--he and the speaker. Long after, phrases that he had heard that day would come back to him, disjointed but pregnant.

"Freedom is innate and relative to capacity. . . . Equality is a fiction whose realization awaits the loving embrace of the lion and the lamb. . . . T