e Waight, M.A., has been
resident at Wolverton from the commencement of the railway buildings. His
difficulties are great; but he is well satisfied with his success. In
railway towns there is only one class, and that so thoroughly independent,
that the influence of the clergyman can only rest with his character and
talents.

The church is thinly attended in the morning, for hard-working men like to
indulge in rest one day in the week; in the evening it is crowded, and the
singing far above average.

To the schools we should like to have devoted a whole chapter now, but must
reserve an account of one of the most interesting results of railway
enterprise.

There is a literary and scientific institution, with a library attached.
Scientific lectures and scientific books are very little patronized at
Wolverton; astronomy and geology have few students; but there is a steady
demand for a great number of novels, voyages, and travels; and musical
entertainments are well supported.

The lecture-room is extremely miserable, quite unfit for a good concert, as
there is not even a retiring room, but the directors are about to build a
better one, and while they are about it, they might as well build a small
theatre. Some such amusement is much needed; for want of relaxation in the
monotony of a town composed of one class, without any public amusements, the
men are driven too often to the pipe and pot, and the women to gossip.

In the summer, the gardens which form a suburb are much resorted to, and the
young men go to cricket and football; but still some amusements, in which all
the members of every family could join, would improve the moral tone of
Wolverton.

Work, wages, churches, schools, libraries, and scientific lectures are not
alone enough to satisfy a large population of any kind, certainly not a
population of hard-handed workers.

* * * * *

WOLVERTON EMBANKMENT was one of the difficulties in railway making, which at
one period interested the public; at present it is not admitted among
engineers that there are any difficulties. The ground was a bog, and as fast
as earth was tipped in at the top it bulged out at the bottom. When, after
great labour, this difficulty had been overcome, part of the embankment,
fifty feet in height, which contained alum shale, decomposed, and spontaneous
combustion ensued. The amazement of the villagers was great, but finally
they came to the conclusion expressed by one of them, in