THE FARLY TEACHING OF ECONOMICS IN THE UNITED STATES 305 
There was assigned to him in 1817 instruction in natural religion, 
moral philosophy, and civil polity, which subjects, the resolution 
reads, had hitherto been “included in the department of the 
professor of Logick, Ethicks and Metaphysicks.” The two 
succeeding holders of the professorship were Levi Hedges, 1827- 
1832, and James Walker, 1838-1853. 
What was understood under the term Civil Polity seems to 
be uncertain. As appears from the statement on the next page, 
Civil Polity seems to have been distinguished from Political 
Economy. Furthermore, in a letter which Mr. William C. 
Lane, the librarian of Harvard College, has been good enough to 
send us, he states: “I regret to find that the early annual cata- 
logues of the College give only the lists of students and pro- 
fessors and contain no information in regard to instruction, so 
that I cannot tell you the character of Professor Frisbie’s lec- 
tures. I think that it may be safely said that all three of these 
first holders of the Professorship emphasized the religious and 
moral side of their subject. With Francis Bowen (1853-1889), 
the Professorship was distinctly one of Political Economy. The 
Professorship has since been held by George Herbert Palmer, 
Josiah Royce, and W. E. Hocking, the present incumbent, all of 
whom have been philosophers rather than economists.” 
A search of the corporation and faculty records and annual 
catalogues of the period, which has been undertaken, through 
the kindness of Professor Taussig, by Mr. I. H. Gorovitz, has 
disclosed some interesting information. 
The first catalogue of Harvard University to contain a list 
of the courses of instruction for undergraduates is that for 1820. 
[n it is printed the “Course of Instruction for the coming year,” 
that is, 1820-21. Among the authors and studies assigned to 
the senior class were Paley’s Moral Philosophy and a course 
in “Political Economy.” There is nothing to indicate by which 
professor the subject was taught or what text, if any, was used. 
The three professors to whom the task might logically have been 
delegated were: The Alford Professor of Natural Religion, Moral 
Philosophy, and Civil Polity; the Professor of Logic and Meta- 
physics; and the Professor of Natural Philosophy. 
Whether the subject was taught before 1820 cannot be ascer- 
tained. That this is possible may be inferred from the follow- 
ing facts. We find, in the records of the College Faculty, that 
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