The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner
by James Hogg
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In James Hogg 1824 novel Confessions of a Justified Sinner, a young man named Robert Wringhim, or sometimes Wringham, encounters a shape-shifting devil. Robert is told that he is one of a small group of people predestined for salvation, and this doppelganger demon convinces him to commit murder and other crimes. Part Gothic novel, part case study in psychology, this is a probing quest into a world of angels and demons, predestiny and fanaticism..
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“This is one of the most fascinating novels I’ve read in recent times. It deals with Calvinist predestination, fanaticism, demonic possession, insanity, the nature of good and evil, and the power of religion over individuals.” That line opens the first review of this book to appear on WLF. I am in complete agreement with it. Hogg, a Scot, is known—if at all—today for this single work, written in 1824. Its influence, though, has been remarkable; to choose just one of many examples, Robert Louis Stevenson credited the book as the inspiration for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Hogg was a self-educated shepherd in a Scotland that was then almost exclusively Presbyterian, a church whose theology is largely Calvinist. Among its doctrines show more is that of predestination: God has predetermined the fate of individuals, including their salvation or damnation, before the creation of the world; nothing one does on earth can alter his or her destiny. God’s choice to save certain sinners by grace is called “election” and the “Elect” are, in essence, untouchable because God cannot be wrong. Hogg is primarily concerned with ridiculing this notion. The narrator, Robert Wringham, is approached by a figure whom Wringham takes to be Peter the Great of Russia traveling incognito. This figure expertly manipulates the deeply devout Wringham, convincing him that he is among the Elect and is thus free to do as he will on earth because God has “chosen” him. Wringham thus allows himself to be convinced that he can—and, indeed, must—kill sinners and those predestined to hell. This all plays out in the context of Hogg’s particular storyline and the plot is far more intricate than I have suggested but the brilliance of the work lies in Hogg’s writing: is the mysterious figure Satan himself or is he a figment of Wringham’s imagination? Is Wringham sane or…? It’s impossible to tell. The novel, a mere 230 pages, is comprised of two parts: an editor’s introduction purports to provide background and context; the second half is Wringham’s own memoir of events. They necessarily overlap and it becomes clear that neither narrator (nor, indeed, any of the other minor characters) is reliable. The language is occasionally dated (or reliant on Scottish terms) and Hogg also resorts to difficult to decipher dialect. Still, the genius of the work lies in the writing and the book is very well-conceived, well-written, and well, extraordinary. show less
Hogg was a self-educated shepherd in a Scotland that was then almost exclusively Presbyterian, a church whose theology is largely Calvinist. Among its doctrines show more is that of predestination: God has predetermined the fate of individuals, including their salvation or damnation, before the creation of the world; nothing one does on earth can alter his or her destiny. God’s choice to save certain sinners by grace is called “election” and the “Elect” are, in essence, untouchable because God cannot be wrong. Hogg is primarily concerned with ridiculing this notion. The narrator, Robert Wringham, is approached by a figure whom Wringham takes to be Peter the Great of Russia traveling incognito. This figure expertly manipulates the deeply devout Wringham, convincing him that he is among the Elect and is thus free to do as he will on earth because God has “chosen” him. Wringham thus allows himself to be convinced that he can—and, indeed, must—kill sinners and those predestined to hell. This all plays out in the context of Hogg’s particular storyline and the plot is far more intricate than I have suggested but the brilliance of the work lies in Hogg’s writing: is the mysterious figure Satan himself or is he a figment of Wringham’s imagination? Is Wringham sane or…? It’s impossible to tell. The novel, a mere 230 pages, is comprised of two parts: an editor’s introduction purports to provide background and context; the second half is Wringham’s own memoir of events. They necessarily overlap and it becomes clear that neither narrator (nor, indeed, any of the other minor characters) is reliable. The language is occasionally dated (or reliant on Scottish terms) and Hogg also resorts to difficult to decipher dialect. Still, the genius of the work lies in the writing and the book is very well-conceived, well-written, and well, extraordinary. show less
James Hogg’s 1824 novel, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner: Written by Himself: With a detail of curious traditionary facts and other evidence by the editor tells the story of the George Colwan, the Laird of Dalcastle, and his two sons, George and Robert. The elder Laird marries Rabina Orde, a devout woman who rejects his impiousness. She later has a son, George, who is the Laird’s heir. Her second son, Robert, is strongly implied to be the son of her minister, the Reverend Wringhim. The two brothers are separated, with George learning all he needs to become the future Laird while Wringhim raises Robert in his antinomian Calvinist beliefs. When the two brothers meet later on, they frequently fight. George show more dies in an apparent duel and Robert is accused of the murder, but disappears before he can face trial.
The second half of the novel tells the story from Robert’s point of view, with his antinomian beliefs allowing him to sin with abandon. Robert falls under the sway of a shape-shifting man who encourages him to sin further. The man calls himself Gil-Martin, but Robert believes him to be Czar Peter of Russia (pg. 127). When Robert first questions Gil-Martin about his name, the shape-shifter says, “You may call me Gil-Martin. It is not my Christian name; but it is a name which may serve your turn” (pg. 122). He further states, “I have no parents save one, whom I do not acknowledge” (pg. 122). Hogg intends for the readers to infer that Gil-Martin is the Devil, though he also introduces enough doubt that Gil-Martin may be nothing more than a figment of Robert’s imagination. This version of the literary Devil is particularly interesting, as the doubt over his existence and the fact that he cannot make Robert do anything that he doesn’t want to anyway encourages further questioning of theological dogmatism.
The novel engages directly with Calvinist theology and the concept of predestination, with Robert, the “sinner,” describing himself as “justified” to refer to his acceptance of Calvinism and belief that he is among the elect predestined for paradise, which contradicts the belief that good works could gain entry to heaven. Thus, Robert points out one of the flaws with antinomian predestination (besides assuming the existence of an all-powerful being without repeatable, testable evidence) – if good works will not permit entry to paradise since the “saved” have been chosen since the beginning of time, then they are free to sin at will confident in their belief that their sins were already cleansed through the crucifixion. The “sinner” muses upon this, thinking, “The more I pondered on these things, the more I saw of the folly and inconsistency of ministers, in spending their lives, striving and remonstrating with sinners, in order to induce them to do that which they had it not in their power to do” (pg. 117). Hogg further criticizes the gullible or easily misled through his portrayal of Reverend Wringhim’s belief in maternal impression, a belief William Hogarth criticized in his 1762 satirical print, Credulity, Superstition and Fanaticism (pg. 104). For those interested in Scottish literature or work that engages with the Scottish Reformation, this is a must-read, though Hogg’s use of dialect to capture the Scottish brogue coupled with archaic slang may be difficult for nonacademic readers. show less
The second half of the novel tells the story from Robert’s point of view, with his antinomian beliefs allowing him to sin with abandon. Robert falls under the sway of a shape-shifting man who encourages him to sin further. The man calls himself Gil-Martin, but Robert believes him to be Czar Peter of Russia (pg. 127). When Robert first questions Gil-Martin about his name, the shape-shifter says, “You may call me Gil-Martin. It is not my Christian name; but it is a name which may serve your turn” (pg. 122). He further states, “I have no parents save one, whom I do not acknowledge” (pg. 122). Hogg intends for the readers to infer that Gil-Martin is the Devil, though he also introduces enough doubt that Gil-Martin may be nothing more than a figment of Robert’s imagination. This version of the literary Devil is particularly interesting, as the doubt over his existence and the fact that he cannot make Robert do anything that he doesn’t want to anyway encourages further questioning of theological dogmatism.
The novel engages directly with Calvinist theology and the concept of predestination, with Robert, the “sinner,” describing himself as “justified” to refer to his acceptance of Calvinism and belief that he is among the elect predestined for paradise, which contradicts the belief that good works could gain entry to heaven. Thus, Robert points out one of the flaws with antinomian predestination (besides assuming the existence of an all-powerful being without repeatable, testable evidence) – if good works will not permit entry to paradise since the “saved” have been chosen since the beginning of time, then they are free to sin at will confident in their belief that their sins were already cleansed through the crucifixion. The “sinner” muses upon this, thinking, “The more I pondered on these things, the more I saw of the folly and inconsistency of ministers, in spending their lives, striving and remonstrating with sinners, in order to induce them to do that which they had it not in their power to do” (pg. 117). Hogg further criticizes the gullible or easily misled through his portrayal of Reverend Wringhim’s belief in maternal impression, a belief William Hogarth criticized in his 1762 satirical print, Credulity, Superstition and Fanaticism (pg. 104). For those interested in Scottish literature or work that engages with the Scottish Reformation, this is a must-read, though Hogg’s use of dialect to capture the Scottish brogue coupled with archaic slang may be difficult for nonacademic readers. show less
***** for this volume's main entry. This is a one-of-a-kind book that manages to tell the same story in two different ways and achieve two different reactions on the part of the reader. The villain of the first part becomes the narrator of the second part, and it turns out that there are some mitigating circumstances--namely, Satan! Believing completely in predestination and that the Christian saved are that way from birth, and that nothing they can do in life can change that, the villain can commit any crime with everlasting--though perhaps not immediate--impunity. To say more would spoil the experience. The book is full of Scots dialect, but pretty easy to understand, as the thickest dialect is reserved for the speech of rustic show more characters. (The glossary at the back of the book is very selective, so most dialect words aren't even defined, but I found it wasn't that hard to get the gist, and there's always Google.) In any case, this is a unique reading experience and about as good a story of the devil as you'll find. It has memorable scenes, great characters, and well-drawn settings. And even humor. Don't miss it.
And I should note that it isn't necessary to understand the various competing Scottish theologies and factions or other things the editor's over-complex introduction discusses. In fact, you'll probably enjoy it more by skipping the introduction, since it really does nothing to help you read the story. (At least, it has no spoilers, so I'll give it that much credit.) Reading it afterwards would probably make it better.
The Penguin Classics edition includes two more stories in the volume:
Marion's Jock ****
Once you get past the nearly impenetrable Scots dialect, this story of a very hungry servant and the lengths he goes to to satisfy his desire for meat is quite entertaining and funny.
John Gray O' Middlehome ****
This is another enjoyable story, despite the Scots dialect, of a weaver who has a dream of buried treasure. The reactions of his wife and the people of his village to his strange behavior are very funny. show less
And I should note that it isn't necessary to understand the various competing Scottish theologies and factions or other things the editor's over-complex introduction discusses. In fact, you'll probably enjoy it more by skipping the introduction, since it really does nothing to help you read the story. (At least, it has no spoilers, so I'll give it that much credit.) Reading it afterwards would probably make it better.
The Penguin Classics edition includes two more stories in the volume:
Marion's Jock ****
Once you get past the nearly impenetrable Scots dialect, this story of a very hungry servant and the lengths he goes to to satisfy his desire for meat is quite entertaining and funny.
John Gray O' Middlehome ****
This is another enjoyable story, despite the Scots dialect, of a weaver who has a dream of buried treasure. The reactions of his wife and the people of his village to his strange behavior are very funny. show less
Who is he that causeth the mole, from his secret path of darkness, to throw up the gem, the gold, and the precious ore?
Hogg should be better remembered. Justified Sinner is a dark revelation, one less gothic than psychological. The novel is a headbirth which ignores Lewis/Walpole/Radcliff and instead Babadooks from a nascent emotional realism, one like Fyodor's magic door where everything is tinged yellow and seizures lead to murder. Speaking of crows, I heartily endorse the subtext as being an opposition to fanaticism or any dogmatic approach to life or social order. (Please leave the room, Rick Santorum). The novel is two tiered, a found editor's investigation and a journal form the eponymous: the latter is vain, contradictory and show more doomed. Sorry for the spoiler: what else could you expect from an early novel where Old Scratch is the wingman? There are veiled thoughts on marriage and inheritance at play, poky pines towards Church imposition. That said, this proved an enjoyable bout with the more sinister angels of our nature. show less
Hogg should be better remembered. Justified Sinner is a dark revelation, one less gothic than psychological. The novel is a headbirth which ignores Lewis/Walpole/Radcliff and instead Babadooks from a nascent emotional realism, one like Fyodor's magic door where everything is tinged yellow and seizures lead to murder. Speaking of crows, I heartily endorse the subtext as being an opposition to fanaticism or any dogmatic approach to life or social order. (Please leave the room, Rick Santorum). The novel is two tiered, a found editor's investigation and a journal form the eponymous: the latter is vain, contradictory and show more doomed. Sorry for the spoiler: what else could you expect from an early novel where Old Scratch is the wingman? There are veiled thoughts on marriage and inheritance at play, poky pines towards Church imposition. That said, this proved an enjoyable bout with the more sinister angels of our nature. show less
An eerie Caledonian fable about religious dogmatism, which works simultaneously on dozens of levels – atmospheric, intellectual, generic, geographical – and all of them engaging. With its in-jokes, its metafictional structure and even a cheeky authorial self-insertion, it reads very much like something faked-up by Pynchon or Coover or some other contemporary experimentalist: a postmodern rewrite of Gothic Romance. But this is very much the original article.
The accoutrements of the genre are all there – doppelgängers, sublime nature, black-clad figures, looming architecture, eldritch forces that man should not wot of – but fused, here, with the Scottish landscape in a way that locates the horrors of the story firmly ‘at show more home’. (This is unlike Gothic fiction from south of the border, which tends to go abroad to find its otherworldliness – Switzerland for Frankenstein, Italy for The Castle of Otranto, France for Udolpho, Romania for Dracula.) The supernatural elements are also built up over a scaffolding of fascinating religious debate that comes out of the split between Calvinists and religious liberals in Scotland in the nineteenth century.
The root of the story is in the dispiriting notion of predestination, which, as Hogg's protagonist points out, makes ‘the economy of the Christian world…an absolute contradiction’.
Seeing that God had from all eternity decided the fate of every individual that was to be born of woman, how vain it was in man to endeavour to save those whom their Maker had, by an unchangeable decree, doomed to destruction.
Not only does this theory, taken to its logical conclusion, make preaching and religious guidance a complete waste of time, it also means that your own actions have no bearing whatever on your eventual fate amid the celestial choirs or the sulphurous pits. In which case, if you happen to know that you're heading upwards – that you're theologically ‘justified’ – then what's to stop you doing anything you like? Rape…murder…fratricide…there are no limits.
The concept is a brilliant one and Hogg plays it for everything it's worth. His interest in ideas of confused identity, psychological breakdown and multiple ‘truths’ makes it easy to understand why the book was so enthusiastically rediscovered towards the end of the twentieth century after decades of neglect; throw in the religious extremism and it's never been more relevant. It's also genuinely creepy. The character of Gil-Martin is one of the best literary treatments of the Devil I've encountered, and some of the set-pieces have a real uncanniness to them which is hard to pull off. A fascinating book, and an excellent choice for anyone in search of a suitably nightmarish Hallowe'en read. show less
The accoutrements of the genre are all there – doppelgängers, sublime nature, black-clad figures, looming architecture, eldritch forces that man should not wot of – but fused, here, with the Scottish landscape in a way that locates the horrors of the story firmly ‘at show more home’. (This is unlike Gothic fiction from south of the border, which tends to go abroad to find its otherworldliness – Switzerland for Frankenstein, Italy for The Castle of Otranto, France for Udolpho, Romania for Dracula.) The supernatural elements are also built up over a scaffolding of fascinating religious debate that comes out of the split between Calvinists and religious liberals in Scotland in the nineteenth century.
The root of the story is in the dispiriting notion of predestination, which, as Hogg's protagonist points out, makes ‘the economy of the Christian world…an absolute contradiction’.
Seeing that God had from all eternity decided the fate of every individual that was to be born of woman, how vain it was in man to endeavour to save those whom their Maker had, by an unchangeable decree, doomed to destruction.
Not only does this theory, taken to its logical conclusion, make preaching and religious guidance a complete waste of time, it also means that your own actions have no bearing whatever on your eventual fate amid the celestial choirs or the sulphurous pits. In which case, if you happen to know that you're heading upwards – that you're theologically ‘justified’ – then what's to stop you doing anything you like? Rape…murder…fratricide…there are no limits.
The concept is a brilliant one and Hogg plays it for everything it's worth. His interest in ideas of confused identity, psychological breakdown and multiple ‘truths’ makes it easy to understand why the book was so enthusiastically rediscovered towards the end of the twentieth century after decades of neglect; throw in the religious extremism and it's never been more relevant. It's also genuinely creepy. The character of Gil-Martin is one of the best literary treatments of the Devil I've encountered, and some of the set-pieces have a real uncanniness to them which is hard to pull off. A fascinating book, and an excellent choice for anyone in search of a suitably nightmarish Hallowe'en read. show less
Reason read: This was on my TBR takedown list. I enjoyed this Gothic story that describes a man who suffers some kind of mental illness or delusion but it also critiques the beliefs of the Calvinist. Calvinism in the Novel:
Predestination: Robert believes he's pre-determined for salvation, making him feel above earthly morality, a central theme of the novel's critique.
Religious Extremism: The book delves into the dark side of strict Calvinist upbringing and its potential to foster fanaticism and madness.
Antinomianism: Robert's conviction that his "justified" status frees him from moral law (antinomianism) directly leads to his crimes.
Predestination: Robert believes he's pre-determined for salvation, making him feel above earthly morality, a central theme of the novel's critique.
Religious Extremism: The book delves into the dark side of strict Calvinist upbringing and its potential to foster fanaticism and madness.
Antinomianism: Robert's conviction that his "justified" status frees him from moral law (antinomianism) directly leads to his crimes.
Something that has affected one as profoundly as this novel has affected me is difficult to do justice to in a brief review; but it is harder to do it justice in a longer format, so this will have to serve as a short, scattered, and unworthy paean to a novel of such sinister and cosmic power, that my fingers literally tremble when it comes up for discussion.
The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner is a dreamy, poisonous, utterly enthralling portrait of the latent (and perhaps extant, perhaps non-extant) evils of a world seeking the favors of God. But it is also a testament to the power of faith, for good or ill, and its pages do not drip solely with venom, but also with ambivalence: such heady themes leave a great deal show more open to interpretation, and like all of the best polemics, Justified Sinner leaves a great deal of its 'conclusions' open-ended.
Words, brief and fickle, fail to summarize Hogg's novel. It is a convoluted and absolutely fascinating study of doubles: double-thoughts, double-motives, double-narrators, double-faiths. That at its heart is a black and troubling mysticism more brooding and pernicious than even its titular Sinner is testament to its powerful mastery of the clean and the unclean, here tempered in a very personal alchemy to produce a narrative of unwavering enigma.
Above all, it is a novel of religion: a firm rejection of Calvinistic dogma and the caustic tenets of Predestination, and a peerless embodiment of the private faith at the roots of some of the darkest shadows of the Romantic's muse. Hogg is an eerie prophet, and this complex, eddying tale his opus, revealed through the syrupy fog of confession, violence, madness, and reprobation. The suspicion that we cannot trust multiple, and even third-party, points of view (despite the relative merits of each) is genius; the suggestion that an entity as singular and terrifying as Gil-Martin may both exist and yet also not exist, the mark of an author of exceptional gifts and striking power.
In short: perdition is spilled upon these pages, and yet also the unmistakable ghost of an uncanny and all-knowing grace.
Highly, highly recommended. show less
The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner is a dreamy, poisonous, utterly enthralling portrait of the latent (and perhaps extant, perhaps non-extant) evils of a world seeking the favors of God. But it is also a testament to the power of faith, for good or ill, and its pages do not drip solely with venom, but also with ambivalence: such heady themes leave a great deal show more open to interpretation, and like all of the best polemics, Justified Sinner leaves a great deal of its 'conclusions' open-ended.
Words, brief and fickle, fail to summarize Hogg's novel. It is a convoluted and absolutely fascinating study of doubles: double-thoughts, double-motives, double-narrators, double-faiths. That at its heart is a black and troubling mysticism more brooding and pernicious than even its titular Sinner is testament to its powerful mastery of the clean and the unclean, here tempered in a very personal alchemy to produce a narrative of unwavering enigma.
Above all, it is a novel of religion: a firm rejection of Calvinistic dogma and the caustic tenets of Predestination, and a peerless embodiment of the private faith at the roots of some of the darkest shadows of the Romantic's muse. Hogg is an eerie prophet, and this complex, eddying tale his opus, revealed through the syrupy fog of confession, violence, madness, and reprobation. The suspicion that we cannot trust multiple, and even third-party, points of view (despite the relative merits of each) is genius; the suggestion that an entity as singular and terrifying as Gil-Martin may both exist and yet also not exist, the mark of an author of exceptional gifts and striking power.
In short: perdition is spilled upon these pages, and yet also the unmistakable ghost of an uncanny and all-knowing grace.
Highly, highly recommended. show less
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Author Information
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Son of a Scottish shepherd and descended from minstrels, Hogg led a life that has the fictional quality Thomas Hardy was to capture later in the century in his novels of country life. After meeting Sir Walter Scott in 1802, Hogg adopted the name "Ettrick Shepherd," a pseudonym under which he published original lyrics and ballads. In 1814 Hogg met show more William Wordsworth and enjoyed literary friendships in the Lake District, although he parodied the other poets' styles and mannerisms in The Poetic Mirror (1816). He married at age 50 and fathered five children, whom he tried to support by the same kind of unproductive farming at which Robert Burns had labored a generation before. Like Burns, his convivial nature and verbal talents won him a following in fashionable society, especially after the publication of his first novel, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824), when he was 53 years old. The first novel to explore psychological aberrations, it traces the collapse of a personality under the pressure of social conformity, native superstition, and religious excess. Since the introduction by Andre Gide to the 1947 Cresset edition, it has acquired an academic following and a new popularity. There is a James Hogg Society, founded in 1982, which publishes a newsletter. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner
- Original title
- The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner: Written by Himself: With a detail of curious traditionary facts and other evidence by the editor
- Alternate titles
- The Suicide's Grave: Being the Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner Written by Himself
- Original publication date
- 1824
- People/Characters
- Robert Wringhim; George Colwan
- Important places
- Arthur's Seat (Edinburgh, Scotland, UK); Edinburgh, Scotland, UK; Cowan's Croft, Scotland, UK; Ettrick, Scottish Borders, Scotland, UK; Selkirk, Scottish Borders, Scotland, UK
- Related movies
- Osobisty pamietnik grzesznika przez niego samego spisany (1986 | IMDb)
- First words
- The events of the Confessions of a Justified Sinner are narrated twice, first by the editor', then by the 'sinner' himself. The editor's narrative begins in 1687 with the marriage of the old laird of Dalcastle to a pio... (show all)us girl who owes her strict Calvinism to the tuition of a minister, Robert Wringhim. The marriage soon breaks up, the laird and his wife occupying different parts of the house, and a Miss Arabella Logan comes to live with the laird as 'housekeeper'. Lady Dalcastle, however, produces two sons. The elder, George Colwan, turns out an upstanding youth and is brought up by he laird; Roert, the younger is educated by his mother and Wringhim, whose name he takes and who, in the laird's opinion is his real father....
Wringhim's own memoir follows. It recounts his joyful admittance by his stepfather into the number of God's elect, and his meeting with an uncanny stranger, under whose influence he murders George. The stranger, who calls himself Gil-Martin, but whom the reader soon recognizes as Satan, assures Wringhim that no sin can affect the salvation of an elect person: this concurs with his stepfather's teachings. -Introduction, John Carey, Emeritus Fellow at Merton College, University of Oxford
Longmans published the first edition of the Confessions in June 1824. It was anonymous ('it beging a story replete with horrors, after I had written it I durst not venture to put my name to it', Hoff divulged in 1832: ... (show all)more probably, he guessed it would scandalize high Calvinists), and dedicated by the 'editor' to the Lord Provost of Glasgow, to imply Glasgow provenance. -Notes on the Text
It appears from tradition, as well as some parish registers still extant, that the lands of Dalcastle (or Dalchastel, as it is often spelled) were possessed by a family of the name of Colwan, about one hundred and fifty years... (show all) ago, and for at least a century previous to that period. -The Editor's Narrative - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)And, in order to escape from an ideal tormentor, committed that act for which, according to the tenets he embraced, there was no remission, and which consigned his memory and his name to everlasting detestation.
- Original language*
- englanti
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 823.7
- Canonical LCC
- PR4791 .P7
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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