Anthony Ashley Cooper - English statesman and philanthropist. The Earl served in Parliament from 1826-1851. He was responsible for such great pieces of legislation as the factory act, the mines act, the Lunacy act, and the Lodgings House act which Dickens called the finest piece of legislation ever enacted in England. Lord Shaftsbury called the Jews "gods ancient people". A firm evangelical believer, he believed that without the Jews there could be no second advent. Together with Palmerston he pushed the building of an Anglican church on Mount Zion and the appointment of a vice council in Jerusalem. Shaftsbury formally presented to the British government a document for "recall of the Jews to their ancient land...for the turning of their captivity is neigh at hand".