To What Extent Did Mill's Economic Thought Evolve During his Final Decade, and Why?

In an episode that reflects tellingly on the state of the economics profession in England circa 1870, John Morley presented himself as a candidate for the London University Chair of Political Economy that John Elliot Cairnes was obliged to vacate because of advancing paralysis. Morley, perhaps the most unswervingly loyal disciple of John Stuart Mill and the editor of the Fortnightly Review, was undeterred by the fact that he had published nothing on the subject, apart from an article on Turgot. Nor, in his letter seeking Mill's endorsement, did Morley feel the need to hint at any prospective scholarly contributions to the discipline. He suggested only that he was “a competent person and likely to discharge the duties of the post industriously” (Morley 1872).