November 1. . . . Went tonight to the Historical Society building at the corner of Second Avenue and Eleventh Street, where we committed our [Columbia] first post-graduate Overt Act. Dwight delivered his introductory lecture on law, successful beyond my hopes. Dwight looks a little uncouth, but his lecture or address was scholar-like, vigorous, sound, and genial. I think he will prove a great acquisition. The audience was respectable and many names were put down for the course at $75. Noyes was delighted; so were Davies, Pierrepont, Bosworth, Daly and others of our judicial lights. I can see that Lieber is jealous of Dwight already.
Prospects of the Lecompton-Democracy for tomorrow don’t improve.
The Diary of George Templeton Strong, Edited by Allan Nevins and Milton Halsey Thomas
November 2. Our new law professor Dwight dined here with Mr. Ruggles and Jem [Ruggles] and Bully Betts (!). Favorable impression of Dwight confirmed. Prospects of the Law School brightening. Betts made himself solemnly agreeable and was warmed into a dignified approach to urbane jocosity by his Romanee. I was politic, for the first time in my dinner-giving career, when I asked Betts to come today. He has fallen out with his brother-fogies in the Columbia College Board, and I wanted to smooth his way to other and wiser alliances; to bring him nearer, in his bereavement, to active progressive men like Mr. Ruggles and our jurist.
The Diary of George Templeton Strong, Edited by Allan Nevins and Milton Halsey Thomas