Just and eternal God, we offer thanks for the stalwart faith and persistence of thy servants William Wilberforce and Anthony Ashley-Cooper, who, undeterred by opposition and failure, held fast to a vision of justice in which no child of yours might suffer in enforced servitude and misery. Grant that we, drawn by that same Gospel vision, may persevere in serving the common good and caring for those who have been cast down, that they may be raised up through Jesus Christ; who with thee and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Surely Anthony Ashley-Cooper is better known as Lord Shaftesbury?
He was Lord Ashley from the age of 10, and Lord Shaftesbury from 1851 until his death in 1885. He did not go by the name of Anthony Ashley-Cooper at any time in his adult life.
See http://www.victorianweb.org/history/shaftesb.html for his life and work.
#1 – If you’re from Charleston, it’s Ashley-Cooper.