Debates, 2nd ser. xxii. 18–25). On 6 May he brought before the house the subject of the national debt ‘in a good and useful speech’ (ib. xxiv. 428–41; Ellenborough, Political Diary, ii. 240–1). Later in the session he reviewed the state of the finances, and urged both a reduction of expenditure and a revision of the system of taxation (Parl. Debates, 2nd ser. xxv. 1081–8).
On the formation of Lord Grey's administration, Goderich was appointed secretary of state for war and the colonies (22 Nov. 1830). In supporting the second reading of the second Reform Bill, in October 1831, Goderich assured the house that he ‘had not adopted his present course without having deeply considered the grounds on which he acted,’ and that he ‘had made a sacrifice of many preconceived opinions, of many predilections, and of many long-cherished notions’ (Parl. Debates, 3rd. ser. vii. 1368–77). His scheme for the abolition of negro slavery did not meet with the approval of the cabinet, and, after considerable pressure from Lord Grey, he resigned the colonial office in favour of Stanley, and accepted the post of lord privy seal (Greville Memoirs, 1st ser. ii. 365–366, 367; Journal of Thomas Raikes, 1856, i. 175; Croker Papers, 1884, i. 208; Memoirs of Lord Brougham, 1871, iii. 379; Times, 31 Jan. and 2 Feb. 1855). He was sworn into his new office on 3 April 1833, and ten days later was created earl of Ripon. On 25 June he explained Stanley's scheme for the abolition of slavery in the colonies. Though he broke down several times, he managed to get through his speech, and to carry a series of resolutions which had been previously approved by the commons (Parl. Debates, 3rd ser. xviii. 1163–80, 1228).
On 27 May 1834 Ripon (together with Stanley, Graham, and the Duke of Richmond) resigned office in consequence of the proposed appointment of the Irish church commission, believing that ‘the effect of the commission must be to alter the footing on which the established church stood’ (ib. 3rd ser. xxiv. 10 n., 260–6, 308). The Grey ministry broke up, and after Melbourne had filled Grey's place (July–November), Sir Robert Peel became prime minister. When the new parliament met on 24 Feb. 1835, Ripon, although he supported the address, disclaimed ‘an unqualified confidence’ in Sir Robert Peel's administration. When Melbourne formed his second administration in April 1835, Ripon was not included. Though he opposed Lord Fitzwilliam's resolution condemning the corn law of 1828, he declared that ‘there were very few persons who were less bigoted to the present system of corn laws than he was’ (ib. xlvi. 582–92). He viewed the penny-postage scheme as a rash and heedless experiment, and considered ‘the bill objectionable in the highest degree’ (ib. xlix. 1222–7). In January, and again in May, 1840 he called the attention of the house to ‘the alarming condition in which the finances of the country stood’ (ib. li. 497–505, liv. 469–479). On 24 Aug. 1841 he carried an amendment to the address, expressing the alarm of parliament at the continued excess of expenditure over income, and declaring a want of confidence in the Melbourne administration (ib. lix. 35–54, 106). On 3 Sept. following he was appointed president of the board of trade in Sir Robert Peel's second administration (London Gazette, 1841, ii. 2221). On 18 April 1842 he moved the second reading of the Corn Importation Bill, by which a new scale of duties was fixed (Parl. Debates, 3rd ser. lxii. 572–89, 627, 635), and on 5 July following he explained the provisions of the Customs Bill, the first principle of which was the abolition of prohibitory duties (ib. lxiv. 939–54, 976–7). On 17 May 1843 he was appointed president of the board of control for the affairs of India in the place of Lord Fitzgerald and Vesey (London Gazette, 1843, i. 1654), and was succeeded at the board of trade by Mr. Gladstone. He moved the second reading of the bill for the abolition of the corn laws on 25 May 1846, when he once more assured the house that he always had ‘a great objection to the principle of any corn law whatever,’ and that for many years he had endeavoured ‘to get rid as speedily as circumstances would permit first of prohibition and then of protection’ (Parl. Debates, 3rd ser. lxxxvi. 1084–1100). Ripon resigned office with the rest of his colleagues on the overthrow of Sir Robert Peel's administration in June 1846. He spoke for the last time in the House of Lords on 14 May 1847 (ib. xcii. 804–5). He died at his residence on Putney Heath on 28 Jan. 1859, aged 76, and was buried at Nocton in Lincolnshire. He was made a trustee of the National Gallery on 2 July 1824, and a governor of the Charterhouse on 10 Sept. 1827. He was elected president of the Royal Society of Literature in 1834, and was created D.C.L. of Oxford University on 12 June 1839. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society on 17 April 1828, and held the post of recorder of Lincoln.
Ripon married, on 1 Sept. 1814, Lady Sarah Albinia Louisa, only daughter of Robert Hobart, fourth earl of Buckinghamshire; she rebuilt Nocton church, and died on 9 April 1867, aged 74. By her Ripon had two sons and a daughter. The elder son and the daughter died young. The only sur-
