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Yuri B. Melnichenko

Small-Angle
Scattering from
Confined and
Interfacial Fluids
Applications to Energy Storage and
Environmental Science
Small-Angle Scattering from Confined
and Interfacial Fluids
Yuri B. Melnichenko

Small-Angle Scattering
from Confined
and Interfacial Fluids
Applications to Energy Storage
and Environmental Science
Yuri B. Melnichenko
Biology and Soft Matter Sciences Division
Neutron Scattering Directorate
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Oak Ridge, TN, USA

This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-
00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The United States Government retains and
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reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States
Government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these
results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan
(http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan).
ISBN 978-3-319-01103-5 ISBN 978-3-319-01104-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-01104-2

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To Gala, Oleg and Yuri
Preface

The phase behavior of bulk fluids is now well understood and their properties can be
predicted accurately using equations of state over a wide range of pressures and
temperatures. The behavior of bulk fluids changes dramatically when they are
injected into small pores, due to increasing importance of the boundary conditions
and molecule-surface interactions. Thus, confinement leads to the emergence of a
new set of variables that impact the phase behavior in tight pores but may be
neglected in the thermodynamic limit. Examples of such variables are the pore size,
shape, and interconnectivity as well as the chemical composition of the pore walls
and fluid-surface interaction potential. Due to involvement of numerous system-
specific parameters, a comprehensive understanding of the influence of confine-
ment on the fluid behavior is only beginning to emerge.
In addition to their fundamental interest, the ability to understand and predict the
phase behavior and dynamics of fluids in natural and engineered porous solids is
crucial for a variety of the environment- and energy storage-related technologies.
These include the capture and sequestration of anthropogenic greenhouse gases,
hydrogen storage, membrane separation of gases, environmental remediation, and
catalysis. Until recently, the adsorption of fluids and structure of pores in various
porous materials have been routinely explored using volumetric and gravimetric
methods, mercury porosimetry, and sorption isotherms. These traditional tools,
however, have their limitations. First, they provide data averaged over the entire
sample volume and thus fail to elucidate how pores of different sizes contribute to
the integral parameters as a function of pressure and temperature. Second, they are
invasive, which eliminates contribution from the closed-off regions of the pore
space and may affect the integrity of the solid matrix. In contrast, noninvasive
small-angle scattering (SAS) techniques offer the unique opportunity to “look but
not touch” inside pores and monitor changes in the adsorption behavior of fluid
molecules confined in pores of different sizes and topology, as well as to detect the
pores inaccessible to the invading fluid. For this reason, a few years ago researchers
began to develop and refine scattering techniques and their interpretations as a
reliable tool for probing properties of confined and interfacial fluids in natural and

vii
viii Preface

engineered porous materials with different structural properties. These efforts

resulted in evolving new methods of the SAS data analysis and interpretation as
well as developing the new generation of the state-of-the-art high pressure cells that
are being used by researchers interested in studying structural and adsorption
properties of confined supercritical fluids and gases under pressure.
This book examines the macro-, meso- and microscopic aspects of the fluid
behavior in porous solids using noninvasive methods of small-angle neutron and
x-ray scattering (SANS and SAXS) as well as ultra small-angle neutron and x-ray
scattering (USANS and USAXS). There is a great deal of similarity between the
x-ray and neutron scattering and therefore both methods are presented and
discussed together so that readers may become familiar with both and appreciate
the advantages and disadvantages of each type of radiation for the specific system
or type of experiment. Both neutrons and x-rays penetrate porous solids and are
scattered on the solid/void interface. At ambient conditions, the resulting scattering
patterns are governed by the geometry and topology of the pore space on the scale
from about 1 nm to about 10 μm and provide quantitative data about the total
porosity, pore size distribution, and the specific area of the scattering interface. SAS
experiments performed on fluid saturated samples maintained in cells with con-
trolled pressure and temperature conditions, combined with isotopic substitution of
invading fluids, facilitate contrast variation experiments. The simplest applica-
tion—direct contrast matching between the solid matrix and the invading fluid—
discriminates between the open (accessible) and closed (inaccessible) porosity.
Both SANS/USANS and SAXS/USAXS enable the observation of pore-size-spe-
cific invasion of the pore space by fluids and help to access important information
on the volume fraction of the adsorbed phase and its average physical density. For
geological samples, this can be done in situ at a subsurface-like temperature and
pressure conditions.
The book is meant as a reference for active researchers in the field, but also may
serve as a comprehensive guide for university faculty members and students, who
may be insufficiently aware of the range of opportunities provided by the small-
angle scattering techniques. The book commences with introductory chapters,
which describe major principles of SAS techniques and are sufficiently compre-
hensive to be useful to researchers interested in structural characterization of
various types of materials in different fields of science. Chapters 1–4 introduce
the basic properties of neutrons and x-rays, provide brief description of the avail-
able neutron and x-ray sources, and give illustrative examples of SAS instrumen-
tation and sample environment. This is followed by discussion of the practical
aspects of SAS experiments, sample preparation methods, optimal instrument
configurations, and basic principles of the data reduction and analysis presented
in Chaps. 5 and 6. Chapter 7 deals with the SAS structural characterization of
various porous solids, and Chap. 8 describes studies of confined vapors below
saturating pressure with the emphasis on vapor adsorption and capillary condensa-
tion. Chapter 9 is concerned with studies of confined and interfacial liquids.
Experimental SAS investigations of high-pressure adsorption of supercritical fluids
Preface ix

and gases in various engineered and natural porous materials are discussed in
Chap. 10.
The author has enjoyed and benefitted from longstanding collaboration with
T.P. Blach, N.C. Gallego, C.I. Contescu, M. Mastalerz, J.R. Morris, A.P. Radlinski,
J.A. Rupp, L.F. Ruppert, R. Sakurovs, and G.D. Wignall. Special thanks are due to
my younger colleagues J. Bahadur, S.M. Chathoth, G. Cheng, and L. He who
contributed their enthusiasm and talent in many studies of confined fluids described
in this book. It is a great pleasure to acknowledge M.M. Agamalian, J.M. Carpenter,
A.P. Radlinski, and G.D. Wignall for reading select chapters of the manuscript and
offering valuable comments. The assistance of Reneé Manning and Genevieve
Martin in preparing high quality artwork is greatly appreciated.

Oak Ridge, TN, USA Yuri B. Melnichenko

Contents

1 Basic Definitions and Essential Concepts

of Small-Angle Scattering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Interaction of X-Rays and Neutrons with Matter;
Scattering Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Scattering Vector and Scattering Cross Section . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.3 Scattering Length Density and Contrast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.4 Absorption and Transmission of X-Ray
and Neutron Beams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.5 Form and Structure Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.6 Complementarity of Neutron and X-Ray
Scattering Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2 Radiation Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.1 Steady State Reactors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.2 Spallation Neutron Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.3 Photon Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3 Constant Flux and Time-of-Flight Instrumentation . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.1 General Purpose SANS Instrument at HFIR, ORNL . . . . . . . . . 35
3.2 Extended Q SANS Instrument at SNS, ORNL . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3.3 Perfect Crystal USANS Instrument at NIST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
3.4 Time-of-Flight USANS at SNS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
3.5 SAXS and USAXS Instruments at APS, ANL . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

xi
xii Contents

4 Sample Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
4.1 Sample Cells for Ambient Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
4.2 SANS High-Pressure Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
4.3 SAXS High-Pressure Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
5 Practical Aspects of Planning and Conducting
SAS Experiments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
5.1 Applying for Beam Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
5.2 Choice of the Instrument Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
5.3 Detector Sensitivity and Instrument Backgrounds . . . . . . . . . . . 76
5.4 Optimal Sample Thickness, Transmission,
and Multiple Scattering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
5.5 Subtraction of the Sample Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
5.6 Data Acquisition Time, Masking, and Radial Averaging . . . . . . 81
5.7 Absolute Calibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
5.8 Instrument Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
5.9 Effective Thickness of Powder Samples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
5.10 Contrast Variation with Liquids and Gases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
5.11 Average Scattering Length Density of Multicomponent
Samples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
6 Fundamentals of Data Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
6.1 Correlation Functions: Mathematical Form and
Geometrical Meaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
6.2 Scattering from Two-Phase Random Systems:
The Porod Invariant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
6.3 Asymptotic Behavior: The Porod Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
6.4 Radius of Gyration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
6.5 Asymptotic Behavior: The Guinier Approximation . . . . . . . . . . 117
6.6 Structural Parameters of the Two-Phase Porous Medium . . . . . . 119
6.7 Bridging the Asymptotic Behavior: The Unified
Scattering Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
6.8 Scattering from Fractal Systems and the Polydisperse
Spherical Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
6.8.1 Scattering from Mass, Surface, and Pore Fractals . . . . . 122
6.8.2 Polydisperse Spherical Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
6.9 Beyond the Two-Phase Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
6.9.1 Partial Scattering Functions of Multiphase Systems . . . 127
6.9.2 Scattering Contrast and the Invariant
of a Three-Phase System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
6.9.3 Oscillatory Deviations from the Porod Law . . . . . . . . . 131
6.10 Interrelation Between the Reciprocal and Real Space . . . . . . . . 134
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Contents xiii

7 Structural Characterization of Porous Materials Using SAS . . . . . 139

7.1 Porous Media for Energy, Environmental,
and Biomedical Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
7.2 Porous Silica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
7.2.1 Porous Vycor Glass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
7.2.2 Silica Aerogels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
7.2.3 Porous Fractal Silica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
7.2.4 Ordered Mesoporous Silica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
7.3 Porous Carbons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
7.3.1 Activated Carbons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
7.3.2 Glassy Carbon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
7.3.3 Carbon Aerogel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
7.4 Alumina Membranes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
7.5 Porous Polymer Monoliths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
7.6 Ceramics, Alloys, and Composite Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
7.7 Structure of Sedimentary Rocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
8 Neutron and X-Ray Porosimetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
8.1 Principles of the Scattering-Based Porosimetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
8.2 Structure of Nanoporous Low-Dielectric-Constant Films . . . . . . 176
8.3 Vapor Adsorption in Porous Silica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
8.3.1 Contrast Matching SANS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
8.3.2 Synchrotron SAXS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
8.4 Carbonaceous Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
8.5 Kinetics of Sorption and Desorption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
8.5.1 Dynamic Micromapping of CO2 Sorption in Coal . . . . 195
8.5.2 Vapor Adsorption in MCM-41 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
8.5.3 Vapor and Water Uptake in Nafion Membranes . . . . . . 199
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
9 Individual Liquids and Liquid Solutions Under Confinement . . . . . 205
9.1 Confined Electrolytes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
9.1.1 Ion Adsorption in Electrolyte Saturated
Porous Carbons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
9.1.2 Ionic Liquids Under Confinement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
9.2 Detection of the Oil Generation in Hydrocarbon
Source Rocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
9.3 Cavitation on Hydrophobic Nanostructured Surfaces . . . . . . . . 217
9.4 Liquid–Liquid Demixing in Mesopores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
9.5 Supercooled Water in Confined Geometries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
9.6 Order-Disorder Transitions in Liquid Crystals . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
xiv Contents

10 Supercritical Fluids in Confined Geometries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

10.1 Specifics of the Supercritical Fluid Adsorption . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
10.2 Density Fluctuations Near the Liquid–Gas Critical
Point of Confined Fluids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
10.3 Adsorption of Supercritical CO2 in Porous Silica . . . . . . . . . . . 258
10.3.1 Silica Aerogels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
10.3.2 Porous Fractal Silica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
10.4 Methane in Porous Carbons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
10.5 Hydrogen Storage in Activated Carbons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
10.6 CO2 Sequestration in Coal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
10.7 Pore Interconnectivity and Accessibility to Fluids
in Coal and Shales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
10.8 Structural Stability of Porous Materials Under Pressure . . . . . . 296
Appendix: Derivation of the Eq. (10.23)
for Accessible Porosity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
Author Biography

Yuri B. Melnichenko was educated as a physicist in the USSR, receiving his

Ph.D. from Kiev State University (1984) and later a prestigious Doctor of Physics
and Mathematics degree from the Academy of Sciences of USSR (1992). He is a
Humboldt Foundation Fellow (1993, Germany) and a recipient of Max Planck
Society award (1994, Germany). Visiting researcher, the Max Planck Institut für
Polymerforschung (Mainz, Germany), in 1993–1995. Since 1995—a research staff
member, Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He conducts research in the field of soft
matter materials and confined fluids using small-angle and quasi-elastic neutron
scattering techniques and is an author and coauthor of more than 160 peer-reviewed
scientific articles. Co-editor of the book “Computational Studies, Nanotechnology,
and Solution Thermodynamics of Polymer Systems” (Kluwer Academic/Plenum
Publishers, New York, 2001). In 2005 elected a Fellow of American Physical
Society for “Significant contribution to the fundamental science underlying univer-
sal aspects of macromolecules in polymer solutions, supercritical mixtures and
polymer blends.” Most recent interests are in the area of high pressure adsorption
and dynamics of fluids confined in pores of engineered and natural porous
materials.

xv
Abbreviations

1D One dimensional
2D Two dimensional
ACF Activated carbon fiber
AFM Atomic force microscopy
ANL Argonne National Laboratory
ANSTO Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation
APS Advanced Photon Source
ASAXS Anomalous SAXS
BENSC Berlin Neutron Scattering Center
BET Brunauer-Emmett-Teller
Bio-SANS Biological SANS instrument
BJH Barrett, Joyner, and Halenda
CCD Charge-coupled device
CDC Carbide-derived carbon
CG2 Cold guide 2
CG3 Cold guide 3
CHESS Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source
CHRNS Center for High Resolution Neutron Scattering
CLD Chord length distribution
CMS Contrast-matched solution
CM-SANS Contrast matching SANS
CO2 Carbon dioxide
COF Covalent organic frameworks
CPG Controlled porous glass
CR Count rate
DCD Double-crystal diffractometer
DFT Density functional theory
EC Empty cell
ECBM Enhanced coalbed methane
EDLC Electrochemical double layer capacitor
EP Ellipsometric porosimetry
xvii
xviii Abbreviations

EQ-SANS Extended Q-range small-angle neutron scattering

Erf Error function
ESRF European Synchrotron Radiation Facility
ESS European Spallation Source
FTIR Fourier transform infrared
FWHM Full width at half maximum
Gi-SANS Grazing incidence SANS
GP-SANS General-Purpose Small-Angle Neutron Scattering
GUI Graphical user interface
HANARO High-Flux Advanced Neutron Application Reactor
HB Horizontal beam tube
HFIR High Flux Isotope Reactor
HFR High Flux Reactor
HSQ Hydrogen silsesquioxane
iBA Isobutyric acid
ID Inner diameter
ILL Institut Laue-Langevin
J-PARC Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex
KEK High Energy Accelerator Research Organization
KP Kirste-Porod
LC Liquid crystal
6
Li2CO3 Lithium-6 carbonate
linac Linear accelerator
MM Mineral matter
MOF Metal organic frameworks
MOP Microporous organic polymers
MPCVD Microwave plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition
MSQ Methylsilsesquioxane
NCNR National Center for Neutron Research
NG Neutron guide
NIST National Institute of Standards and Technology
NMR Nuclear magnetic resonance
NR Neutron reflectometry
OD Outside diameter
ORNL Oak Ridge National Laboratory
PCP Porous coordination polymer
PDSP Polydisperse spherical pore (model)
PFAC Polyfurfuryl alcohol-derived activated carbon
PFS Porous fractal silica
PFSA Perfluorinated sulfonic acid
PMMA Poly(methyl methacrylate)
PSI Paul Scherrer Institute
QENS Quasi-elastic neutron scattering
RF Resorcinol formaldehyde
Abbreviations xix

RFIM Random-field Ising model

RTD Resistance temperature detector
SANS Small-angle neutron scattering
SANSADSO SANS adsorption
SAS Small-angle scattering
SAX Small-angle x-ray scattering
SC Supercritical
SCF Supercritical fluid
SDD Sample-to-detector distance
SEM Scanning electron microscopy
SILP Supported ionic liquid phase
SLD Scattering length density
SNS Spallation Neutron Source
SRS Short-range smectic
SSD Sample-source distance
STEM Scanning transmission electron microscopy
SXR Specular x-ray reflectometry
TEATFB Tetraethylammonium tetrafluoroborate
TEM Transmission electron microscopy
TiC-CDC Titanium carbide-derived carbon
TOC Total organic carbon
TOF Time of flight
UMC Ultramicroporous carbon
USANS Ultrasmall-angle neutron scattering
USAS Ultrasmall-angle scattering
USAXS Ultrasmall-angle x-ray scattering
VSANS Very small-angle SANS
ZAC Zero average contrast
Chapter 1
Basic Definitions and Essential Concepts
of Small-Angle Scattering

This chapter provides introductory information about the specifics of x-ray and
neutron interactions with matter, as well as the basics of small-angle scattering
(SAS). The scattering principles of x-rays and neutrons are discussed based on a
single approach. Although the physics of small-angle light scattering is similar to
that of x-rays and neutrons, it is not discussed here because it cannot be used to
study confined fluids in generally nontransparent porous solids. In most cases
formula derivations have been intentionally omitted as they are already found in
the literature. The text presented is not intended as a substitute for general books
and chapters on scattering and diffraction theory, and an extensive list of advanced
texts and World Wide Web resources for further reading is given at the end of the
chapter.

1.1 Interaction of X-Rays and Neutrons with Matter;

Scattering Length

X-rays are electromagnetic waves that are scattered by electrons. The x-ray
scattering process can be thought of as involving absorption of the x-ray photon,
accompanied by excitation of the electronic system, immediately followed by
de-excitation and reemission of an x-ray photon. Because every electron has the
same x-ray scattering amplitude (also known as “scattering length” bX), each
element scatters proportionally to its number of electrons:

bX ¼ b0 Z; ð1:1Þ

where b0 ¼ 0.282 1012 cm is the Thompson scattering factor of one electron and
Z is the atomic number (the number of electrons in the electronic shell of an atom).
X-ray scattering lengths increase rapidly with atomic number (Table 1.1, Fig. 1.1).

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 1

Y.B. Melnichenko, Small-Angle Scattering from Confined
and Interfacial Fluids, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-01104-2_1
2 1 Basic Definitions and Essential Concepts of Small-Angle Scattering

Table 1.1 Coherent (bound) neutron (b) and x-ray (bX) scattering lengths, coherent (σcoh) and
incoherent (σinc) neutron cross sections, neutron (σabs) and x-ray (σabs, X) absorption coefficients of
some common elements and isotopes
Neutrons, b, X-rays, bX, σcoh ¼ 4πb2 σinc σabs σabs, X
Atom (1012 cm) (1012 cm) Z (barn) (barn) (barn) (barn)
H 0.374 0.282 1 1.76 79.7 0.33 0.655
D 0.667 0.282 1 5.59 2 0.0005 0.655
C 0.665 1.692 6 5.6 0 0.0035 89.9
N 0.94 1.974 7 11.1 0.3 1.9 173
O 0.58 2.256 8 4.23 0 0.0002 304
Al 0.345 3.666 13 1.49 0 0.23 2220
Si 0.415 3.948 14 2.16 0 0.17 2970
Z is atomic number. The absorption values for neutrons and x-rays are for λ ¼ 1.8 Å and λ ¼ 1.54 Å,
respectively [1, 4]. 1 barn ¼ 1024 cm2

Fig. 1.1 X-ray and neutron scattering lengths of atoms listed in Table 1.1. For x-rays, the
scattering length is proportional to the atomic mass/number of electrons. Neutron scattering
lengths vary irregularly with the atomic number and can be different for different isotopes of
each element. Scattering length of hydrogen (H, marked in blue) and deuterium (D) differ by both
sign and amplitude

This means that the scattering pattern measured during an x-ray experiment will be
mostly defined by the scattering from heavy atoms. Neutrons represent uncharged
elementary particles, and their scattering centers are the nuclei of atoms. Each atom
has a characteristic neutron scattering length (b). The magnitude of b determines the
strength of neutron scattering, and its sign indicates whether the incident and
scattered waves are in or out (180 ) of phase.
1.1 Interaction of X-Rays and Neutrons with Matter; Scattering Length 3

Neutron scattering lengths are determined by quantum mechanics of the

neutron–nucleus interaction. They are isotope-dependent and vary irregularly
across the periodic table. To a good approximation, neutron scattering lengths are
independent of their wavelength (λ) for low-energy (cold and thermal) neutrons.
The problem of ab initio calculation of b has not yet been resolved, and the values of
b are determined experimentally and then tabulated (e.g., see [1]).
The scattering length of a complex scattering object is the sum of the scattering
lengths of its constituent atoms for x-rays and neutrons:
Xn
b¼ i¼1
bi : ð1:2Þ

For example, the x-ray scattering length of SiO2 can be calculated as bX ¼ (3.948 +
2  2.256)  1012 cm ¼ 8.46  1012 cm. At the same time, the neutron scattering
length of SiO2 is b ¼ (0.415 + 2  0.58)  1012 cm ¼ 1.575 1012 cm. As can be
seen in Table 1.1, the x-ray scattering lengths of hydrogen and deuterium
are identical, whereas their neutron scattering lengths differ significantly and the
value for b of hydrogen is actually negative, while that of deuterium is positive.
The negative scattering length of hydrogen, as well as some other atoms such as
lithium, titanium, and vanadium, indicates that neutrons scattered from these
elements are subject to a 180 phase shift compared with other atoms. The resulting
large difference in scattering length between hydrogen and deuterium forms
the basis of deuterium labeling techniques that represents a unique feature of
neutron scattering, giving it considerable advantages over corresponding x-ray
methods.
Another important difference between x-ray photons and neutrons is their
energy. The energy of an x-ray photon Eph with the wavelength λ ¼ 1.54 Å is
Eph ¼ 12.398/1.54 ffi 8 keV. The kinetic energy of a thermal neutron is almost six
orders of magnitude lower and close to the energy associated with atomic motions:
Eam ¼ 0.0867 T ffi 25 meV for temperatures T around 300 K. Therefore, the energy
exchange between x-rays and atoms might be neglected, and small-angle x-ray
scattering (SAXS) experiments are always conducted in “elastic” mode under
conditions when there is no energy exchange between radiation and molecules.
The same assumption (i.e., elasticity of scattering) also applies to small-angle
neutron scattering (SANS) experiments to a good approximation. However,
because of their much lower energy, in principle neutrons can exchange their
energy with atoms to a degree that can be measured experimentally. Such exper-
iments are performed using specially designed quasi-elastic and inelastic neutron
scattering spectrometers that deliver information on diffusion, as well as on the
internal vibrational and rotational modes of atoms and molecules [2]. Finally,
because neutron has a magnetic moment, it can interact with the magnetic moments
of unpaired electrons, making it an excellent probe for determination of the static
and dynamic magnetic properties of matter such as magnetic ordering phenomena,
magnetic excitations, spin fluctuation, etc. [3]. Discussion of this type of scattering,
however, is beyond the scope of this book.
4 1 Basic Definitions and Essential Concepts of Small-Angle Scattering

1.2 Scattering Vector and Scattering Cross Section

Both x-rays and neutrons exhibit wave-particle duality. Whether neutrons and
x-rays appear to behave as particles or as waves depends on the type of experiment
being conducted. X-rays are scattered elastically by electrons, and neutrons are
scattered elastically or inelastically, coherently or incoherently, by nuclei. In SAS
experiments, the only concern is with the elastic component of scattering. The
observed scattering profiles depend on the phase difference between coherent
neutron or x-ray waves scattered at different points of the sample.
The principal aim of an SAS experiment is to determine the probability that a
neutron or a photon, which is incident on the sample with wave vector k0, is
scattered into the state with wave vector k. The intensity of scattered radiation is
thus measured as a function of the momentum transfer (Fig. 1.2):

hQ ¼ hðk  k0 Þ; ð1:3Þ

where Q is known as the scattering vector. The magnitude of a wave vector is

defined as its wave number: jkj ¼ k ¼ 2π=λ, where λ is the wavelength. For the
elastic scattering process, jkj ¼ jk0 j ¼ k and the magnitude of scattering vector Q
(sometimes called momentum transfer) is given by

4π
jQj ¼ Q ¼ sin Θ; ð1:4Þ
π

where 2Θ is the scattering angle. It completely characterizes the scattering geom-

etry—the incident and scattered beam directions as well as the wavelength
(Fig. 1.2). The majority of literature on neutron scattering gives the scattering
vector in terms of Q, whereas researchers working on x-ray diffraction prefer a
different definition of the scattering vector, designated as s:

Fig. 1.2 The vector

diagram for elastic SAS
experiment, when
jk0 j ¼ jkj ¼ 2π=λ. A
fraction of x-rays or
neutrons scattered through
angle 2Θ are recorded on a
2D detector at distance LSD
1.2 Scattering Vector and Scattering Cross Section 5

2
jsj ¼ s ¼ sin Θ; ð1:5Þ
λ

From which follows that Q ¼ 2πs.

The previously introduced scattering length of each element is related to another
important variable—cross section (σ). Assuming that flux of neutrons or photons
incident on the sample is Φ0 [particles s1 cm2], a number of scattering events
occurring each second (scattering intensity IS) may be defined through the relation

I S ¼ Φ0 σ, ð1:6Þ

where σ has the dimension of an area and a commonly used unit for such areas is
called “barn”: 1 barn ¼ 1024 cm2.
As discussed in Sect. 1.1, practically any sample is composed of several atomic
species, i, each of which represents a mixture of several isotopes that possess a
nuclear spin. Because the neutron scattering power depends not only on the nature
of the nucleus but also on the total spin of the nucleus–neutron system, neutron
scattering lengths are different for different isotopes. The scattering lengths of
isotopes are characterized by an average value and a standard deviation:

b ¼ hbi  Δb: ð1:7Þ

The average scattering length hbi over all isotopes and spin state populations is
called the coherent scattering length. At the same time, the incoherent scattering
length is defined as the root mean square deviation of b from hbi. The coherent and
incoherent scattering cross sections are related to the corresponding scattering
lengths as follows:

σ coh ¼ 4π hbi2 : ð1:8Þ

σ inc ¼ 4π hΔbi2 : ð1:9Þ

The coherent and incoherent cross sections are calculated from the bound (i.e.,
not free) scattering lengths for nuclei. The actual cross sections depend on the
incoming neutron energy (wavelength), especially for light elements. For
low-energy neutrons (i.e., cold neutrons), the tabulated cross sections are generally
 
a lower limit. If the isotope has no spin (e.g., 12C or 16O), then b2 ¼ hbi2 ¼ Δb2
and there is no incoherent scattering.
Only the coherent scattering cross section contains information on the interfer-
ence effects arising from spatial correlation of the scattering elements in the system,
in other words, the structure of the sample. The incoherent cross section contains no
information on interference effects and forms an isotropic background that must be
subtracted from the raw data. The incoherent component of the scattering does,
however, contain information on the motion of single atoms and molecules, which
can be investigated by studying the changes in energy of the incident beam [2].
6 1 Basic Definitions and Essential Concepts of Small-Angle Scattering

Compilations of the scattering lengths and cross sections can be readily found in the
literature (e.g., [1, 4]) and on the World Wide Web (e.g., www.ncnr.nist.gov/
resources/n-lengths/). Values of b and σ for some selected nuclei are given in
Table 1.1.
Unlike neutrons, for photons there is no strict analog of incoherent scattering.
X-ray Compton scattering is similar in that it contains no information on interfer-
ence effects (i.e., the structure of the sample) and contributes a background to the
coherent signal. However, in the SAS limit Q ) 0, this background goes to zero and
can be neglected to a good approximation.
The aim of the SAS experiment is to measure the flux of the scattered beam ΦS
normalized to the flux of the incident neutrons Φ0 as a function of scattering angle
(or scattering vector) and, based on this variation, make some conjectures about the
structure of the sample. Φ0 [particles s1 cm2] refers to a plane incident wave and ΦS
[particles s1sterad1] to a spherical scattered wave. Hence, the ratio ΦS/Φ0 has
dimension of area per solid angle and is called the differential scattering cross section:
 
dσ ΦS cm2
¼ : ð1:10Þ
dΩ Φ0 sterad

It represents the probability that a photon or neutron is scattered into a unit solid
angle in the given direction (Fig. 1.3). Integrating the differential scattering cross
section throughout the solid angle Ω gives an equation that describes the total
scattering cross section that has dimension of area:
ð 2π ð π 

dσ
σ tot ¼ sin Θ dΘ dΦ
0 0 dΩ : ð1:11Þ
total number of particles scattered in all directions per second
¼
flux of the incident beam

Even after normalizing to the incident flux, the same sample will show different
differential scattering cross sections depending on its size. It is therefore useful to
introduce yet another normalization factor 1/V, where V is the sample volume
illuminated by the beam:

dΣ 1 dσ
ðQÞ ¼ ðQÞ: ð1:12Þ
dΩ V dΩ

Fig. 1.3 Schematic of the

SAS experiment
1.3 Scattering Length Density and Contrast 7

As defined, the differential scattering cross section per unit volume has the dimen-
sion of cm1 sterad1. In the scattering community it is common to omit the
dimensionless unit of the solid angle and present scattering curves in so-called
absolute units of cm1. Note that the differential cross section per unit volume is
often, and incorrectly, referred to in the literature as the intensity of scattering, and
the scattering data are represented by the symbol I(Q). Use of this symbol is
justified only if it is clearly stated that it denotes the differential neutron scattering
cross section per unit volume (in units of cm1), in which case I(Q)  dΣ/dΩ(Q).
With this reservation, in this book the terms intensity and differential cross section
are used interchangeably.

1.3 Scattering Length Density and Contrast

Neutron and x-ray scattering techniques have been widely employed to provide
information on the spatial arrangements of building blocks in random materials and
to determine crystal structures using Bragg’s law:

λ ¼ 2D sin Θ; ð1:13Þ

where D is the distance between crystallographic planes. Combining Eqs. (1.4) and
(1.13) gives

D ¼ 2π=Q: ð1:14Þ

Hence, to study structural inhomogeneities on length scales of 1,000 Å, one needs

to measure scattering at Q-values as low as of 103 Å1 and collect data at small
angles ðΘ < 10 Þ using long-wavelength (5 < λ < 20 Å), that is “cold” neutrons. At
the same time, investigation of structural properties on a short length scale of
10 Å requires taking data at much wider scattering angles ðΘ  40 Þ.
In many engineered and natural materials such as porous solids, bones, cements,
rocks, and clays, structural inhomogeneities can span length scales from nanome-
ters to microns, and a complete characterization of such multi-hierarchical struc-
tures at all levels requires the application of complementary neutron and x-ray
scattering methods with adequate resolution. Modern SANS and SAXS instruments
can probe length scales from few Angstroms to about 1000 Å. Moreover,
ultrasmall-angle neutron scattering (USANS) and ultrasmall-angle x-ray scattering
(USAXS) instruments can extend the characterization capabilities of length scales
up to several microns [5]. This range can be further extended up to a macroscopic
scale (millimeters and centimeters) by the use of non-diffractive neutron and x-ray
imaging methods (radiography and tomography). Because of their high penetration
power, and high interaction probability with light elements in general, and hydro-
gen in particular—neutrons are especially suitable for nondestructive imaging and
8 1 Basic Definitions and Essential Concepts of Small-Angle Scattering

resolution of small amounts of organic substances inside various inorganic

materials [6].
As mentioned previously, the main objective of an SAS experiment is to
determine the differential scattering cross section per unit volume dΣ/dΩ(Q)
since this quantity contains information on the shape, size, and correlations between
the scattering centers in the sample. It should be emphasized that the non-zero SAS
signal can be detected only if the scattering power fluctuates from point to point in
the sample, as, in general, radiation incident on a medium whose scattering power is
independent of position is scattered only in the forward direction (θ ¼ 0) and all
scattering at θ 6¼ 0 cancels out.
The scattering lengths of several neighboring atoms can be averaged over
volume with dimensions on the order of the wavelength of the radiation and in
the limit of low and intermediate Q SAS can be considered as scattering from
continuum. On the other hand, in the limit of high Q 1 Å1, scattering occurs
from individual atoms (neutron or x-ray crystallography). The crossover between
the continuum and single atom scattering regimes is not well defined. It should
correspond to situations where the volume of the building block in the system is
small enough that a constant average value of the scattering length cannot be
defined, which makes the SAS theory inapplicable.
The scattering power of the volume υ is proportional to the scattering length
density (SLD), which is defined for neutrons as
Xn
b
i¼1 i
ρ* ¼ ; ð1:15Þ
υ

where b is a bound coherent scattering length and the summation is over every atom
(i) in a molecule. In turn, for x-rays the SLD (which is proportional to the electron
density) is simply
Xn
b
i¼1 0
Z
ρ*X ¼ : ð1:16Þ
υ

The reference volume υ can be chosen as the volume of a molecule (e.g., water or
SiO2 or CO2) and be calculated as:
Xn
Mi
υ¼ i¼1
, ð1:17Þ
NAρ

where Mi is atomic mass of the constituent atoms, ρ the physical density, and NA
Avogadro’s number. Neutron SLDs of several solids and liquids are given in
Table 1.2.
The amplitude of the differential scattering cross section dΣ/dΩ(Q) is propor-
tional to the (neutron or x-ray) contrast factor that is defined as the square of the
difference of the SLD of a scattering object and the surrounding medium:
1.3 Scattering Length Density and Contrast 9

Table 1.2 Neutron scattering lengths (b), physical densities (ρ), molecular volumes (υ), and
scattering length densities (ρ*)n of some solids and liquids
Scattering Physical Molecular
Atom or length, b, density, volume, υ, (ρ*)n (ρ*)X
molecule Formula (1012 cm) ρ, (g/cm3) (1024 cm3) (1010 cm2) (1010 cm2)
Silicon Si 0.415 2.33 20 2.075 20.07
Silicon SiO2 1.575
dioxide:
Fused 2.2 45.5 3.47 18.87
Quartz 2.65 37.7 4.18 29.41
Carbon: C 0.665
Amorphous 1.8 11.1 6 15.31
Graphite 2.267 8.82 7.55 19.28
Diamond 3.515 5.69 11.7 29.89
Aluminum Al2O3 2.43 3.95 43 5.67 33.25
oxide
Water H2O 0.168 1.0 30 0.56 9.47
Heavy water D2O 1.914 1.11 30 6.39 9.45
Toluene C7H8 1.663 0.87 177 0.94 8.1
Toluene-d8 C7D8 9.991 0.943 177 5.64 8.0
Methanol CH4O 0.251 0.792 67.3 0.373 7.58
Methanol-d4 CD4O 3.91 0.888 67.6 5.79 7.55
Acetone C3H6O 0.331 0.791 122 0.27 7.42
Acetone-d6 C3D6O 6.577 0.872 122 5.39 7.41
Hexane C6H14 1.246 0.655 217 0.571 6.46
Hexane-d14 C6D14 13.328 0.767 217 6.39 6.51
For deuterated materials, it is assumed that the number of molecules per unit volume is indepen-
dent of deuteration. X-ray scattering length densities (ρ*)X are calculated for λ ¼ 1.54 Å
corresponding to photon energy 16 keV. Online calculators are available at http://www.ncnr.
nist.gov/resources/sldcalc.html and http://sld-calculator.appspot.com/

dΣ  2
ðQÞ  ðΔρ*Þ2 ¼ ρ*1  ρ*2 : ð1:18Þ
dΩ

Consider porous glass that consists of an SiO2 matrix with air-saturated pores. In
this case there exists a significant contrast between the SLD of air (which is
virtually zero as the physical density of air is  0) and the SLD of a silica matrix
(the neutron SLD ¼ 3.47  1010 cm2, and the x-ray SLD ¼ 18.61  1010 cm2).
The presence of pores generates strong fluctuations between the SLD of the regions
consisting of SiO2 and air, which results in a strong SAS signal, with the scattering
power of x-rays exceeding that of neutrons by a factor of 5.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 “Fear not a constraining measure!
—Yielding to the gentle spell,
Lucida! from domes of pleasure,
Or from cottage-sprinkled dell,
Comes to regions solitary,
Where the eagle builds her aery,
Above the hermit’s long-forsaken cell!
—She comes!—behold
That figure, like a ship with silver sail!
Nearer she draws; a breeze uplifts her veil;
Upon her coming wait
As pure a sunshine, and as soft a gale,
As e’er, on herbage-covering earthly mold,
Tempted the bird of Juno to unfold
His richest splendour,—when his veering gait,
And every motion of his starry train,
Seem governed by a strain
Of music, audible to him alone.”

And then we have a picture of the lady:—

 “worthy of earth’s proudest throne!
Nor less, by excellence of nature, fit
Beside an unambitious hearth to sit
Domestic queen, where grandeur is unknown;
What living man could fear
The worst of fortune’s malice, wer’t thou near,
Humbling that lily stem, thy sceptre meek,
That its fair flowers may brush from off his cheek
The too, too, happy tear?
—Queen, and handmaid lowly!
Whose skill can speed the day with lively cares,
And banish melancholy
By all that mind invents, or hand prepares;
O thou, against whose lip, without its smile
And in its silence even, no heart is proof;
Whose goodness, sinking deep, would reconcile
The softest nursling of a gorgeous palace,
To the bare life beneath the hawthorn roof
Of Sherwood’s archer, or in caves of Wallace—
Who that hath seen thy beauty could content
His soul with but a glimpse of heavenly day?
Who that hath loved thee, but would lay
His strong hand on the wind, if it were bent
To take thee in thy majesty away?
Pass onward (even the glancing deer
Till we depart intrude not here;)
That mossy slope, o’er which the woodbine throws
A canopy, is smooth’d for thy repose!”

The next lady that he invokes before the astonished youth is his own
daughter—sweet Dora—the previous one was Miss Southey.
 “Come, if the notes thine ear may pierce,
Come, youngest of the lovely three,
Submissive to the mighty verse
And the dear voice of harmony,
By none more deeply felt than thee!
I sang; and lo! from pastures virginal
She hastens to the haunts
Of Nature, and the lonely elements.
Air sparkles round her with a dazzling sheen;
And mark, her glowing cheek, her vesture green!
And, as if wishful to disarm
Or to repay the potent charm,
She bears the stringed lute of old romance,
That cheered the trellissed arbour’s privacy,
And soothed war-wearied knights in raftered hall.
How vivid, yet how delicate, her glee!
So tripped the muse, inventress of the dance;
So, truant in waste woods, the blithe Euphrosyne!”

But the ringlets of that head,

Why are they ungarlanded?
Why bedeck her temples less
Than the simplest shepherdess?
Is it not a brow inviting
Choicest flowers that ever breathed,
Which the myrtle would delight in,
With Idalian rose enwreathed?
But her humility is well content
With one wild floweret (call it not forlorn),—
Flower of the Winds—beneath her bosom worn—
Yet more for love than ornament.”

Then follows that beautiful description of her moral graces, already quoted
in these pages, beginning—

“Open ye thickets! let her fly,

Swift as a Thracian nymph, o’er field and height;”

the whole picture being as fine a conception, and as rich an embodyment, of

this sweet Dora,—judging from her portrait in the second volume of the
“Memoirs,” and from numerous written and spoken reports of her person
and character,—as the highest genius and the highest art combined, could
possibly have produced. And now for Miss Coleridge:—

“Last of the three, tho’ eldest born,

Reveal thyself, like pensive morn
Touched by the skylark’s earliest note,
E’er humble-gladness be afloat.
But whether in the semblance drest
Of dawn, or eve, fair vision of the west,
Come, with each anxious hope subdued
By woman’s gentle fortitude,
Each grief, thro’ meekness, settling into rest.
—Or I would hail thee when some high-wrought page
Of a closed volume, lingering in thine hand,
Has raised thy spirit to a peaceful stand
Among the glories of a happy age.”

And, behold! she is here:—

 “Her brow hath opened on me—see it there,
Brightening the umbrage of her hair;
So gleams the crescent moon, that loves
To be descried thro’ shady groves.
Tenderest bloom is on her cheek;
Wish not for a richer streak;
Nor dread the depth of meditative eye;
But let thy love, upon that azure field
Of thoughtfulness and beauty, yield
Its homage offered up in purity.
What would’st thou more? In sunny glade,
Or under leaves of thickest shade,
Was such a stillness e’er diffused
Since earth grew calm while angels mused?
Softly she treads, as if her foot were loth
To crush the mountain dew-drop—soon to melt,
On the flower’s breast; as if she felt
That flowers themselves, whate’er their hue,
With all their fragrance, all their glistening,
Call to the heart for inward listening—
And tho’ for bridal wreaths and tokens true
Welcomed wisely; tho’ a growth
Which the careless shepherd sleeps on,
As fitly spring from turf the mourner weeps on—
And without wrong are cropped the marble tomb to strew.

And now the charm is over;

——“the mute phantom’s gone,

Nor will return—but droop not, favoured youth,
The apparition that before thee shone
Obeyed a summons covetous of truth.
From these wild rocks thy footsteps I will guide
To bowers in which thy fortunes may be tried,
And one of the bright three become thy happy bride.”

A fairer subject than this, for the imagination of the true painter, does
scarcely exist in poetry. The gorgeous magnificence of Miss Southey—the
wild, bird-like nature of Dora, the mystic, spiritual, meditative beauty of
Miss Coleridge. Here is material enough for the highest effort of art.
 A number of poems followed this exquisite “Triad”—viz., “The Wishing
Gate,” in 1828—“The Lawn,” “Presentiments,” “The Primrose on the
Rock,” “Devotional Incitements;” these last were written between 1828 and
’32. A number of gold and silver fishes presented to the poet by Miss H. J.
Jewsbury, who subsequently died of the cholera in India,—and afterwards
removed to the pond already alluded to, under the oak in “Dora’s field,”
suggested the verses “Gold and Silver Fishes in a Vase,” and likewise
“Liberty,” and “Humanity;” “The Poet and the caged Turtle Dove” was
likewise suggested by real circumstances. Miss Jewsbury had given Dora a
pair of these beautiful birds; one of them was killed by an un-necessary cat,
and not a “harmless one;” the other survived many years, and had a habit of
cooing the moment Wordsworth began “booing” his poems, as the country
people called it.
Wordsworth gives an amusing account of a visit which he paid about this
time to “Chatsworth.” He had undertaken to ride his daughter’s pony from
Westmoreland to Cambridge, that she might have the use of it during a visit
she was about to make to her uncle at Trinity; and on his way from
Bakewell to Matlock, he turned off to see the splendid mansion of the great
Duke of Devonshire. By-and-bye a tremendous storm came on, and the poet
was drenched through to the very skin, whilst the pony, to make his rider’s
seat the more easy, went “slantwise” all the way to Derby. Notwithstanding
this, however, and the pelting of the pitiless storm, Wordsworth managed to
hold sweet and sad converse with his muse, and composed his “Lines to the
Memory of Sir George Beaumont,” who died 7th February, 1827. It is a
picture which we cannot readily forget, and shows how completely the poet
was master of himself. Sir George Beaumont and his lady were friends and
benefactors of Wordsworth—he loved them both intensely. Walking
through the grounds and gardens of Coleorton with Sir George—the
successor in the Baronetcy to his friend—and after the death of Lady
Beaumont, which took place in 1822, he comes suddenly to her ladyship’s
grotto, near the fountain, and is overwhelmed with his feelings, and the
recollection of the dead, and the happy memories which rush over his mind
in connection with this place, so that he cannot speak for tears. On his
return home he wrote the elegiac musings, already mentioned in these
memoirs, which are full of love, and the sanctity of a sweet sorrow. In the
same year (1831) were composed “The Armenian Lady’s Love,” “The
Egyptian Maid,” and “The Russian Fugitive,” poems in which all the
beauties of language are pressed, along with the simplicity which marks the
old English ballads. Lines on his portrait, painted by Pickersgill, and
preserved with sacred veneration in St. John’s College, Cambridge, were
likewise written in this year, as well as the inscription already quoted, for
the stone at Rydal.
Besides these poetical compositions, however, Wordsworth interested
himself in public affairs; and having fixed principles of political and social
economy in his own mind, regarded all public measures at variance with
them, as fatal errors, and subversive in their consequences of the highest
human concerns. In 1806, he wrote a letter to a friend, who had consulted
him respecting the education of his daughter—in which he gives some
sound and excellent advice respecting the training and development of
youthful minds. For Wordsworth had at an early period devoted his
attention to the subject of education, and had his own views respecting it—
views which were marked by the spiritual peculiarity of his mind. When he
wrote “The Excursion,” he seems to have had the highest hopes for man,
when education should become universal; and insisted that the State should
teach those to obey, from whom she exacted allegiance:—

“O for the coming of that glorious time,

When, prizing knowledge, as her noblest work
And best protection, this imperial realm
While she exacts allegiance, shall admit
An obligation on her part to teach
Them who are born to serve her and obey;
Binding herself, by statute, to secure
For all the children whom her soil maintains
The rudiments of letters, and inform
The mind with moral and religious truth,
Both understood, and practised.”
Excursion, Book ix.

He was an avowed enemy, however, at a later period—for his views

respecting the modus operandi of teaching, had undergone some change
since “The Excursion” was written—to all Infant Schools, Madras Systems,
and Bell Systems. The former he regarded as usurping the functions of
motherly duty; the latter, as dead mechanism. Speaking of the education of
girls, he says:—“I will back Shenstone’s ‘School Mistress,’ by her winter
fire, and in her summer garden seat, against all Dr. Bell’s sour-looking
teachers in petticoats. What is the use of pushing on the education of girls
so fast, and moving by the stimulus of Emulation, who, to say nothing
worse of her, is cousin-german to Envy? What are you to do with these
girls? What demand is there for the ability that they may have prematurely
acquired? Will they not be indisposed to bend to any kind of hard labour or
drudgery? And yet many of them must submit to it, or go wrong. The
mechanism of the Bell System is not required in small places; praying after
the fugleman, is not like praying at a mother’s knee. The Bellites overlook
the difference: they talk about moral discipline; but wherein does it
encourage the imaginative feelings? in short, what she practically
understands is of little amount, and too apt to become the slave of the bad
passions. I dislike display in everything; above all, in education.... The old
dame (Shenstone’s) did not affect to make theologians and logicians; but
she taught to read; and she practised the memory, often no doubt by rote,
but still the faculty was improved; something, perhaps, she explained, but
trusted the rest to parents and masters, and to the pastor of the parish. I am
sure as good daughters, as good servants, as good mothers and wives, were
brought up at that time as now, when the world is so much less humble-
minded. A hand full of employment, and a head not above it, with such
principles and habits as may be acquired without the Madras machine, are
the best security for the chastity of wives of the lower rank.”
The above extract is from a letter dated 1828, and addressed to the Rev.
Hugh Jones Rose, formerly principal of King’s College, London. It
exemplifies, in a very striking manner, the change which had come over
Wordsworth’s mind upon the subject of education, and does not strike me as
being particularly creditable to him.
On the 13th of April, 1836, Wordsworth took part in the ceremony of
laying the foundation-stone of certain new schools, about to be erected at
Bowness, Windermere, and made a speech upon the occasion; in which he
advocates a very humble kind of instruction for the working classes;
forgetting that man is to be educated because he is a man, and not neglected
because he happens to be one of the “lower orders.” I have no sympathy
with this foolish cant about educating people according to their station, and
am sorry that Wordsworth’s sanction can be quoted in its favour. I must
reserve what I have to say upon this subject, however, for my analysis of
the mind and writings of the poet.
 In 1835, Wordsworth published his “Yarrow Revisited, and other
Poems.” Speaking of “Yarrow Re-visited,” he says: “In the autumn of 1831,
my daughter and I set off from Rydal, to visit Sir Walter Scott, before his
departure for Italy. This journey had been delayed by an inflammation in
my eyes, till we found that the time appointed for his leaving home would
be too near for him to receive us without considerable inconvenience.
Nevertheless we proceeded, and reached Abbotsford on Monday. I was then
scarcely able to lift up my eyes to the light. How sadly changed did I find
him from the man I had seen so healthy, gay, and hopeful, a few years
before, when he said, at the inn at Patterdale, in my presence, his daughter,
Ann, also being there, with Mr. Lockhart, my own wife and daughter, and
Mr. Quillinan: ‘I mean to live till I am eighty, and shall write as long as I
live.’ Though we had none of us the least thought of the cloud of misfortune
which was then going to break upon his head, I was startled, and almost
shocked, at that bold saying, which could scarcely be uttered by such a
man, without a momentary forgetfulness of the instability of human life.
But to return to Abbotsford. The inmates and guests we found there, were
Sir Walter, Major Scott, Anne Scott, and Mr. and Mrs. Lockhart; Mr.
Laidlaw, a very old friend of Sir Walter’s; one of Burns’s sons, an officer of
the Indian service, had left the house the day before, and had kindly
expressed his regret that he could not wait my arrival, a regret that I may
truly say was mutual. In the evening, Mr. and Mrs. Liddell sang, and Mrs.
Lockhart chaunted old ballads to her harp; and Mr. Allan, hanging over the
back of a chair, told, and acted, odd stories in a humourous way. With this
exhibition, and his daughters’ singing, Sir Walter was much amused, and,
indeed, so were we all, as far as circumstances would allow.”
On the following morning (Tuesday) Sir Walter accompanied
Wordsworth, and most of his friends, to Newark Castle, on the Yarrow, and
it was upon this occasion that the lines, “Yarrow Revisited,” were written.
On the morning of Thursday following, when the poet left Abbotsford, he
had a serious conversation with Sir Walter, who spoke with gratitude of the
happy life he had led. Sir Walter wrote also a few lines in Dora’s album,
addressed to her; and when he presented her with the book, in his study, he
said: “I should not have done a thing of this kind, but for your father’s sake;
they are probably the last verses I shall ever write.” “They shew,” says,
Wordsworth, “how much his mind was impaired; not by the strain of
thought, but by the execution—some of the lines being imperfect, and one
stanza wanting corresponding rhymes.” Poor Sir Walter!—what a spectacle
it was to see that colossal intellect tumbling into ruins.
Several poems were the result of this short tour, beside the “Yarrow
Revisited,”—such as “The Place of Burial,” “On the Sight of a Manse in the
South of Scotland,” &c., &c.—Wordsworth’s health, too, was much
improved by this tour, and a violent inflammation of the eyes—a complaint
to which he was much subject,—left him whilst walking through the
Highlands, by the side of his “open carriage,” driven by Dora!
Amongst the poems contained in the volume entitled, “Yarrow
Revisited,” were many of a political character, for they were written
between the years 1830 and 1834, when the Revolution of France, and the
Reform party in England, were agitating society to its centre. Wordsworth
now hated revolution, and reform also; was opposed to a large and
enlightened system of education; and to the admission of Dissenters to the
Universities. His plea was the old constitution of things, which could not,
he thought, be mended without being broken up and destroyed. “Since the
introduction of the Reform Bill, I have been persuaded,” he says, “that the
Constitution of England cannot be preserved. It is a question, however, of
time.” The poem entitled, “The Warning,” will give the best idea of
Wordsworth’s strong political opinions and feelings at this time. As a
contrast, however, to these narrow yet patriotic views, we turn to the
“Evening Voluntaries,” a collection of sweet poems, which were published
in the same volume as the “Yarrow.” They were written on a high part of
the coast of Cumberland, on April 7th (Easter Sunday), the author’s 63rd
birth-day, between Moresby and Whitehaven, whilst he was on a visit to his
son, who was then rector of Moresby.—Very beautiful, indeed, are these
poems, which read like twilight vespers in some old abbey’s chancel.
Wordsworth says of them—“With the exception of the eighth and ninth, this
succession of voluntaries originated in the concluding lines of the last
paragraph of this poem, [i.e. of the poem, written on the author’s birth-day,
and marked No. 2, in the “Voluntaries,” commencing, “The sun that seemed
so mildly to retire.”] With this coast I have been familiar from my earliest
childhood, and remember being struck, for the first time, by the town and
port of Whitehaven, and the white waves breaking against its quays and
piers, as the whole came into my view from the top of the high ground,
down which the road, that has since been altered, descended abruptly. My
sister, when she first heard the voice of the sea from this point, and beheld
the scene spread before her, burst into tears. Our family then lived at
Cockermouth, and this fact was often mentioned amongst us, indicating the
sensibility for which she was remarkable.”
As a specimen of the “Evening Voluntaries,” take the following:—

“Calm is the air, and loth to lose

Day’s grateful warmth, tho’ moist with falling dews.
Look for the stars, you’ll say that there are none;
Look up a second time, and one by one,
You mark them twinkling out with silvery light,
And wonder how they could elude the sight!
The birds, of late so noisy in their bowers,
Warbled awhile with faint and fainter powers,
But now are silent as the dim-seen flowers.
Nor does the village church clock’s iron tone
The time’s and season’s influence disown;
Nine beats distinctly to each other bound
In drowsy sequence—how unlike the sound
That in rough winter, oft inflicts a fear
On fireside listeners, doubting what they hear!
The shepherd, bent on rising with the sun,
Had closed his door before the day was done,
And now with thankful heart to bed doth creep,
And joins the little children in their sleep.
The bat, lured forth where trees the lane o’ershade,
Flits and reflits along the dark arcade;
The busy dor-hawk chases the white moth
With burring note, which industry and sloth
Might both be pleased with, for it suits them both.
A stream is heard—I see it not but know
By its soft music where the waters flow:
Wheels and the tread of hoofs are heard no more;
One boat there was, but it will touch the shore
With the next dipping of its slackened oar;
Faint sound that for the gayest of the gay,
Might give to serious thought a moment’s sway,
As a last token of man’s toilsome day.”

Wordsworth does not seem, during any period of his life, to have been on
intimate terms with any of his contemporaries. He preferred the flower of
the literateurs, Coleridge, Scott, Southey; and these, with the exception
perhaps of Rogers, were his chief friends. We have letters of his, however,
to much smaller fry; to Mrs. Hemans, and Miss Jewsbury, for example—
and to sundry editors of other men’s wares; but there is little or no
recognition of Byron, Shelly, Keats, Tennyson, Baily, Campbell, Moore, nor
yet of Dickens or Bulwer. His letters represent his character even better than
his poetry; they are Wordsworth in undress, without the “garland and
singing robe,” and are worthy to be studied. I like much what he says to the
Rev. Robert Montgomery, author of “The Devil and Father Luther,” and
pious Robert would do well even at this late day to think on it. Montgomery
had sent Wordsworth a copy of his poems, and in reply, the poet answers: “I
cannot conclude without one word of literary advice which I hope you will
deem my advanced age entitles me to give. Do not, my dear sir, be anxious
about any individual’s opinion concerning your writings, however highly
you may think of his genius, or rate his judgment. Be a severe critic to
yourself; and depend upon it no person’s decision upon the merit of your
works will bear comparison in point of value with your own. You must be
conscious from what feeling they have flowed, and how far they may or
may not be allowed to claim on that account, permanent respect; and above
all I would remind you, with a view to tranquillise and steady your mind,
that no man takes the trouble of surveying and pondering another’s writings
with a hundredth part of the care which an author of sense and genius will
have bestowed upon his own. Add to this reflection another, which I press
upon you, as it has supported me through life—viz.: That posterity will
settle all accounts justly, and that works which deserve to last will last; and
if undeserving this fate, the sooner they perish the better.”
In the year 1836 the sister of the poet’s wife—Miss Sarah Hutchinson,
who had resided with the family at Rydal, died, and was buried in Grasmere
church, “near the graves of two young children removed from a family to
which through life she was devoted.”
In the following year, 1837, Wordsworth, accompanied by his friend H.
C. Robinson, Esq., set off from London for Rome, returning in August. The
“Itinerary” of the travellers is contained in the “Memoirs,” along with some
memoranda by the poet; but they are not of much interest. Many fine
pieces, however, sprung as usual from the journey, as well as a goodly
number of sonnets. They originally appeared in a volume entitled “Poems,
chiefly of Early and Late Years,” in 1842. In 1839, Wordsworth received
the degree of D.C.L., from the University of Oxford, which was conferred
on him in the Sheldonian Theatre, amidst shouts of rejoicing such as had
never before been heard in that city, except upon the occasion of an
unexpected visit of the Duke of Wellington. In 1838, Wordsworth prepared
a new edition of his poems, to be published by Moxon, and continued to
live at Rydal, in his quiet and musical manner, writing poems, taking
rambles, and conducting his correspondence until 1843, when he was
appointed Poet Laureate of England, Southey having died on the 21st of
March of that year, and the appointment having been offered to Wordsworth
on the 31st of the same month. One occurrence only broke the even tenor of
the poet’s life in the interim alluded to, and this was an accident by which
he was upset from his gig, and thrown violently into a plantation. The
accident was owing to the carelessness and want of skill in the driver of a
coach, which they met on the road. No serious consequences followed,
however, and inquiries and congratulations flowed in on all sides, from the
peasant up to Queen Adelaide.
From the time of Wordsworth’s appointment as Laureate,—which it
ought to be said he at first refused, and only accepted with the
understanding that it should be an honorary office,—he wrote very little
poetry. His work, indeed, was done, his mission accomplished; and his old
days were spent in rambling over the hills, and in the quiet enjoyment of his
family, friends, fame, and fortune. Honours of a high order were
subsequently heaped upon him. In the year 1838, the University of Durham
took the initiative in conferring an academic degree on the poet; then the
grand old Mother, Oxford, followed,—and in 1846 he was put in
nomination, without his knowledge, for the office of Lord Rector of the
University of Oxford, and gained a majority of twenty-one votes, in
opposition to the premier, Lord John Russell. “The forms of election,
however,” says Wordsworth, in a letter to Sir W. Gomm, of Port Louis,
Mauritius, dated November 23, 1846, “allowed Lord John Russell to be
returned through the single vote of the sub-rector voting for his superior. To
say the truth, I am glad of this result, being too advanced in life to
undertake with comfort any considerable public duty, and it might have
seemed ungracious to have declined the office.”
On the 20th of January, 1847, Mr. William Wordsworth, the younger son
of the poet, was married at Brighton, to Fanny Eliza Graham, youngest
daughter of Reginald Graham, Esq., of Brighton, who was a native of
Cumberland; and whilst the joy of this event was still fresh in the hearts of
the Rydal household, a dread calamity awaited them in the death of Mrs.
Quillinan—the sweet Dora so often spoken of in these pages, the beloved
daughter of the poet. As previously stated, she had accompanied her
husband to Portugal for the benefit of her health,—and although the change
seemed at first to have operated favourably upon her, it was soon evident,
on her return home, that she was doomed for the silent bourne of all
travellers in this world. She died on the 9th day of July, 1847, and was
buried in Grasmere church-yard. Her death was a terrible blow to the
venerable poet, now in his eightieth year,—but he bore up patiently, with
the heart and hope of a Christian.
Three years after this sad loss, Wordsworth himself was summoned
away. On Sunday, the 10th of March, 1850, he attended at Rydal chapel for
the last time, visiting, during the day, a poor old woman, who had once
been his servant, and another person who was sick, and as the poet said,
“never complained.”
“On the afternoon of the following day, he went towards Grasmere, to
meet his two nieces, who were coming from Town End. He called at the
cottage near the White Moss Quarry, and the occupant being within, he sat
down on the stone seat of the porch, to watch the setting sun. It was a cold,
bright day. His friend and neighbour, Mr. Roughsedge, came to drink tea at
Rydal, but Mr. Wordsworth not being well, went early to bed.”
From this time he gradually grew worse; and in order to convey to him
the impressions of his physicians, Mrs. Wordsworth whispered in a soft
voice, full of deep devotion, “Dear William, you are going to Dora.” How
delicate, how affectionate, how poetical! But the poet did not hear, or did
not seem to hear; and yet, twenty-four hours after, when one of his nieces
came into the room, and gently drew aside the curtains of his bed, he caught
a glimpse of her figure, and asked, “Is that Dora?”
On the 23rd of April—the birth-day, and death-day of Shakspeare, the
great-hearted Wordsworth went back again to God.
He was buried on the 27th, in Grasmere church-yard.
Those who would know more of the poet must go to his writings; and, I
may add, that the “Memoirs” of Dr. Wordsworth are indispensable to a full
understanding both of the Poet and the Man. His letters, containing his most
private thoughts, are printed there with plentiful profuseness; and the
“Memoranda” respecting the origin of his poems are intensely interesting
and important to all students of Wordsworth. The reminiscences of various
persons who knew him, set the character of the poet before us in strong
relief. All agree in speaking of him as a most kindly, affectionate, and
hospitable man, living with the simple tastes and manners of a patriarch, in
his beautiful home. My limits prevent me from entering into an analysis of
his mind and character, as I had intended to do; I must reserve this work,
therefore, for another occasion, and will conclude with a few quotations
from the poet’s “Table-Talk,” respecting his cotemporaries.—Speaking of
Goethe, he says:—
“He does not seem to me to be a great poet in either of the classes of
poets. At the head of the first I would place Homer and Shakspeare, whose
universal minds are able to reach every variety of thought and feeling,
without bringing his own individuality before the reader. They infuse, they
breathe life into every object they approach, but you cannot find themselves.
At the head of the second class, those whom you can trace individually in
all they write, I would place Spenser and Milton. In all that Spenser writes,
you can trace the gentle, affectionate spirit of the man; in all that Milton
writes, you find the exalted, sustained being that he was. Now, in what
Goethe writes, who aims to be of the first class, the universal, you find the
man himself, the artificial man, where he should not be found; so that I
consider him a very artificial writer, aiming to be universal, and yet
constantly exposing his individuality, which his character was not of a kind
to dignify. He had not sufficiently clear moral perceptions to make him
anything but an artificial writer.
And again:—
“I have tried to read Goethe. I never could succeed. Mr.—— refers me to
his ‘Iphigenia,’ but I there recognise none of the dignified simplicity, none
of the health and vigour which the heroes and heroines of antiquity possess
in the writings of Homer. The lines of Lucretius describing the immolation
of Iphigenia are worth the whole of Goethe’s long poem. Again there is a
profligacy, an inhuman sensuality, in his works, which is utterly revolting. I
am not intimately acquainted with them generally. But I take up my ground
on the first canto of ‘Wilhelm Meister;’ and as the attorney-general of
human nature, I there indict him for wantonly outraging the sympathies of
humanity. Theologians tell us of the degraded nature of man; and they tell
us what is true. Yet man is essentially a moral agent, and there is that
immortal and unextinguishable yearning for something pure and spiritual
which will plead against these poetical sensualists as long as man remains
what he is.”
Of Scott he says:—
“As a poet, Scott cannot live, for he has never in verse written anything
addressed to the immortal part of man. In making amusing stories in verse,
he will be superseded by some newer versifier; what he writes in the way of
natural description is merely rhyming nonsense. As a prose writer, Mr.
Wordsworth admitted that Scott had touched a higher vein, because there he
had really dealt with feeling and passion. As historical novels, professing to
give the manners of a past time, he did not attach much value to those
works of Scott’s, so called, because that he held to be an attempt in which
success was impossibility. This led to some remarks on historical writing,
from which it appeared that Mr. Wordsworth has small value for anything
but contemporary history. He laments that Dr. Arnold should have spent so
much of his time and powers in gathering up, and putting into imaginary
shape, the scattered fragments of the history of Rome.”
And again:—
“He discoursed at great length on Scott’s works. His poetry he
considered of that kind which will always be in demand, and that the supply
will always meet it, suited to the age. He does not consider that it in any
way goes below the surface of things; it does not reach to any intellectual or
spiritual emotion; it is altogether superficial, and he felt it himself to be so.
His descriptions are not true to nature; they are addressed to the ear, not to
the mind. He was a master of bodily movements in his battle-scenes; but
very little productive power was exerted in popular creations.”
Moore:—
“T. Moore has great natural genius; but he is too lavish of brilliant
ornament. His poems smell of the perfumer’s and milliner’s shops. He is
not content with a ring and a bracelet, but he must have rings in the ear,
rings on the nose—rings everywhere.”
Shelley:—
“Shelley is one of the best artists of us all: I mean in workmanship of
style.”
Tennyson:—
 “I saw Tennyson, when I was in London, several times. He is decidedly
the first of our living poets, and I hope will live to give the world still better
things. You will be pleased to hear that he expressed in the strongest terms
his gratitude to my writings. To this I was far from indifferent, though
persuaded that he is not much in sympathy with what I should myself most
value in my attempts—viz., the spirituality with which I have endeavoured
to invest the material universe, and the moral relations under which I have
wished to exhibit its most ordinary appearances.”
Hartley Coleridge—
He spoke of with affection. “There is a single line,” he added, “in one of
his father’s poems, which I consider explains the after life of the son. He is
speaking of his own confinement in London, and then says,—

‘But thou, my child, shalt wander like a breeze.’

“He thought highly also of some of Hartley’s sonnets.

Southey—
He said had outlived his faculties. His mind he thought had been
wrecked by long watching by the sick bed of his wife, who had lingered for
years in a very distressing state.
Coleridge—
He said the liveliest and truest image he could give of Coleridge’s talk
was that of “a mystic river, the sound or sight of whose course you caught
at intervals, which was sometimes concealed by forests, sometimes lost in
sand, and then came flashing out broad and distinct; then again took a turn
which your eye could not follow, yet you knew and felt that it was the same
river....[M] Coleridge had been spoilt as a poet by going to Germany. The
bent of his mind, at all times very much inclined to metaphysical theology,
had there been fixed in that direction.”
Lord Byron—
“Has spoken severely of my compositions. However faulty they may be,
I do not think I ever could have prevailed with myself to print such lines as
he has done, for instance—

‘I stood at Venice on the Bridge of Sighs,

A palace and a prison on each hand.’
 “Some person ought to write a critical review analising Lord Byron’s
language, in order to guard others against imitating him in these respects.”
Emerson and Carlyle—
“Do you know Miss Peabody of Boston? She has just sent me, with the
highest eulogy, certain essays of Mr. Emerson. Our—— and he appear to be
what the French called esprits forts, though the French idols showed their
spirit after a somewhat different fashion. Our two present Philosophes, who
have taken a language which they suppose to be English, for their vehicle,
are, verily, par nobile fratrum, and it is a pity that the weakness of our age
has not left them exclusively to this appropriate reward—mutual
admiration. Where is the thing which now passes for philosophy at Boston
to stop?”
Such are a few random selections from the spoken opinions of the poet.
He hated innovation, hence his attack upon the two last named authors, not
made, I think, in the very best spirit. I must here leave him, however. He
will stand well upon his honours in all future generations, and must
certainly be ranked as a poet in the same category with Milton.

FINIS.

——————
J. S. Pratt, Stokesley, Yorkshire.

FOOTNOTES:
[A] These remarks do not of course apply to Cowper and Burns, to whom our
modern literature is so deeply indebted, but to their predecessors, from Pope
downwards.
[B] Memoirs of William Wordsworth, by Dr. Wordsworth, vol. 1, page 7.
[C] De Quincy, Tait’s Magazine, for 1839.
[D] It is related by De Quincy, that during Wordsworth’s early residence in the
lake country—after his return from Cambridge—his mind was so oppressed by the
gloomy aspect of his fortunes, that evening card-playing was resorted to, to divert
him from actual despondency.
[E] Dr. Wordsworth’s Memoir, page 53.
[F] Memoir, page 71-2.
 [G] Chambers’ Papers for the People, article Wordsworth.
[H] Vol. 1, page 149 to 154.
[I] Memoirs, Vol. 1., page 156
[J] Dr. Wordsworth’s “Memoirs,” vol. 2, p. 94.
[K] “Memoirs,” vol. 2, p. 102-105.
[L] Memoirs, vol. ii., p. 121.
[M] This view of Coleridge is confirmed by Carlyle, in his “Life of John Sterling,”
just published.
“Coleridge sat on the brow of Highgate-hill, in those years, looking down on
London and its smoke tumult, like a sage escaped from the inanity of life’s battle;
attracting towards him the thoughts of innumerable brave souls still engaged there.
His express contributions to poetry, philosophy, or any specific province of human
literature or enlightenment, had been small and sadly intermittent; but he had,
especially among young inquiring men, a higher than literary,—a kind of prophetic,
or magician character. He was thought to hold,—he alone in England,—the key of
German and other transcendentalisms; knew the sublime secret of believing by ‘the
reason’ what ‘the understanding’ had been obliged to fling out as incredible; and
could still, after Hume and Voltaire had done their best and worst with him, profess
himself an orthodox Christian, and say and point to the Church of England, with its
singular old rubrics and surplices at Allhallowtide, Esto perpetua. * * * * He
distinguished himself to all that ever heard him as at least the most surprising talker
extant in this world,—and to some small minority, (by no means to all,) the most
excellent. The good man, he was now getting old, towards sixty perhaps,—and gave
you the idea of a life that had been full of sufferings; a life heavy-laden, half-
vanquished, still swimming painfully in seas of manifold physical and other
bewilderment. * * * * * I still recollect his ‘object’ and ‘subject,’ terms of continual
recurrence in the Kantean province; and how he sung and snuffled them into ‘om-m-
mject’ ‘sum-m-mject,’ with a kind of solemn shake or quaver, as he rolled along. No
talk, in his century or in any other, could be more surprising.
* * * * *
“He had knowledge about many things and topics,—much curious reading; but
generally all topics led him, after a pass or two, into the high seas of theosophic
philosophy, the hazy infinitude of Kantean transcendentalism, with its ‘sum-m-
mjects’ and ‘om m-mjects.’ Sad enough, for with such indolent impatience of the
claims and ignorances of others, he had not the least talent for explaining this or
anything unknown to them; and you swam and fluttered in the mistiest, wide,
unintelligible deluge of things,—for most part in a rather profitless, uncomfortable
manner. Glorious islets, too, I have seen rise out of the haze; but they were few, and
soon swallowed in the general element again. * * * * * * One right peal of concrete
laughter at some convicted flesh-and-blood absurdity, one burst of noble indignation
at some injustice or depravity rubbing elbows with us on this solid earth,—how
strange would it have been in that Kantean haze-world, and how infinitely cheering
amid its vacant air-castles, and dim-melting ghosts and shadows! None such ever
came. His life had been an abstract thinking and dreaming, idealistic one, passed
amid the ghosts of defunct bodies and of unborn ones. The mourning sing-song of
that theosophico-metaphysical monotony left on you, at last, a very dreary feeling.”