Topic : Social Action

In England in the 1830s, many poor children had no time for school or play. They worked in coal mines under inhuman conditions. But these children had a friend in high places: Anthony Ashley Cooper, seventh Earl of Shaftesbury and a member of parliament. He was also a devoted Christian who believed God had called him to help the downtrodden. Shaftesbury fought for years to end the abusive child labor practices, although at times he felt “every hand is against me.” But he stood firm, and Parliament abolished child slavery in the mines.

Today in the Word, February 21, 1997, p. 28