ABSTRACT
Captain Basil Hall, R.N., the subject of this memoir, was the second son of Sir James Hall, Fourth Baronet of Dunglass, Haddingtonshire, [1761–1832], The house in which he was born was built on the site of an ancient castle on the Berwick Burn, a stream which witnessed many border skirmishes between English and Scots in the old days. It is a spot pregnant with historic memories. It was the last place in Scotland at which a Scottish king slept, for here James IV passed his last night before crossing the Border to become James I of England. It was the “Ravens-wood” of Sir Walter Scott's famous novel, and is described by Robert Burns as one of the most beautiful places he ever saw. Sir James was a remarkable man. Educated at Christ's College, Cambridge, he afterwards went over to Brienne to stay with a relation, William Hamilton of Bangour. He attended classes at the Military School, and here he met Napoleon Buonaparte, also a pupil there, and was “the first Englishman Napoleon ever saw.” He held advanced opinions, and in 1791 crossed over to Paris to study the French Revolution, where he came into contact with Robespierre, the Abbé Sieyès, Condorcet, and the famous chemist Lavoisier, with whom he found much in common. Cockburn, in his Memorials, speaks of Sir James as being “the most scientific of our country gentlemen,” held in great admiration by all deep philosophers, and describes his house in George Street as, “distinguished by its hospitality both to science and fashion.”
