And so, because Fenton had a perpetual curacy, too good to be given up; and because Robinson, in his two parishes, had as much work as he could do, Wesley was forcibly removed from Wroote, and brought back to Oxford to fulfil his functions as a fellow. No time was lost. He returned to Oxford on November 22, 1729, and here continued until he embarked for Georgia on the 14th of October, 1735. CHAPTER III. _OXFORD METHODISM, ETC._ [Sidenote: 1729 Age 26] Wesley returned to Oxford shortly after the coronation of George II. In some respects this was an age of giants. Bolingbroke, though a rake and an infidel, was a man of exalted powers and of splendid eloquence. Walpole, more than any other man, was the means of keeping the British crown on the heads of the house of Hanover. The Earl of Granville, by his brilliant talents, raised himself to the highest offices of state; though, thinking ignorance the best security for obedience, he opposed the education of the poor, and disliked the propagation of Christ’s religion in the colonies. Chesterfield was a gambler and a _roué_, but, as Johnson said, “he was also a wit among lords, and a lord among wits.” In the Church, Atterbury, though a Jacobite, passionate, ambitious, and double dealing, was also talented, learned, and eloquent. Whiston, though extremely heterodox, was a man of great ability. Gibson, Bishop of London, was one whose piety was equal to his erudition. Hoadly, Bishop of Winchester, has, not without reason, been pronounced “the greatest dissenter that ever wore a mitre.” Sherlock was famous for his pulpit power. The head of Waterland was “an immense library, where the treasures of learning were arranged in such exact order that whatever he or his friends wanted he could produce at once.” To these might be added Butler, Secker, Warburton, and others. Among the Dissenters we find Edmund Calamy, Isaac Watts, Nathaniel Lardner, and Philip Doddridge.