Basil Hall, FRS (1788 – 1844) was a British naval officer from Scotland, a traveller, and an author. From the beginning of his naval career he had been encouraged by his father to keep a journal, which later became the source for a series of books and publications describing his travels. In 1829 Hall published these Travels in North America, which caused some offence due to his criticisms of American society. One is not surprised that an American schoolteacher objected to Hall's opinion that Scottish, not American, pronunciation, should be used in the classroom (Vol. I p. 28). Hall's overall opinion was that "With the Americans ... there is always a solemn sort of enigmatical assumption of the intricacy and transcendent grandeur of their whole system, not to be comprehended by weak European minds" (p. 212). Having spent six weeks in the United States, Hall and his party moved on to Upper Canada where he observed "how great a change in many of the most essential particulars of national character, and customs, and appearance, a short half-mile ... could make. The air we breathed seemed different ..." As to Canada's future, he states: "It seems to be a pretty general opinion, that there are only two alternatives for the Provinces in question; - one is, to remain in connexion with the Mother Country, - the other, to merge into the Mare Magnum of the American Confederation. The probability of their forming themselves into a separate, independent nation, is seldom dwelt upon, and is hardly to be contemplated" (p. 407). Hall proceeded to Lower Canada before returning to the United States for the remaining two volumes.
