The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner

This little book was written some time before Victorian sensation-alism (a favourite genre of mine) became popular. However, being a sort-of example of a Gothic novel, it seems fair to say that this is a precursor to the kind of fiction that would so shock and excite readers decades later. Written in 1824, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner is a relatively short work, written by a Scottish shepherd, James Hogg. It was not very well received. It was called “uncouth and unpleasant” by the British Critic; “extraordinary trash” by the Quarterly Theological Review; and the Westminster Review thought Hogg had been “uselessly and disgustingly abusing his imagination” in writing this novel. Alright, it’s not the most joyful of books, but I don’t think it deserves such heavy-handed criticism as that.

It is written by two narrators; an ‘editor’, who opens and closes the novel, and the ‘justified sinner’ himself, Robert Wringhim. The editor tells the story of a jolly Laird and his ludicrously pious wife (a strict Calvinist) who eventually live separately because of their inherent differences. She has two sons – one is athletic and handsome, and is brought up by the Laird, the other, Robert, is doubted by the Laird to be his son and is so brought up by the mother and a preacher, becoming, in turn, a strict Calvinist. I have read that this is not a strictly truthful portrayal of Calvinism, but nevertheless: a brief outlining of this division of Christianity. Calvinists believed that they were chosen by God to spend eternity in Heaven. This great list was already written, and absolutely final – you couldn’t earn a place there, no matter how Christian you were, you were simply chosen as one of the elect. What Hogg exploits here is the notion that if you could not act in a way to promote yourself onto the list, then surely no one could act badly enough to be thrown off it. This attitude was so outrageous that Hogg initially had his novel to be published anonymously, for fear of retribution from High Calvinists.

To avoid entering into lengthy explanations of plot – and ruining any potential plot twists – I shall summarise in as few words as I can bear, in order to whet the appetite, so to speak! The young Robert Wringhim, burdened with a jealousy of his handsome brother, meets a mysterious stranger, called Gil-Martin, who talks most exquisitely about God. They enter into a friendship that initially, to Robert, seems to be about the glorification and discussion of their holy Father, but soon brings him to mischief, and murder. While the reader easily recognises this character to be Satan, Wringhim is so drawn in by his dazzling arguments that the sins he’s committing are justifiable and right, that he doesn’t realise how he is truly acting. There is an extremely sinister side to his character when Robert begins to have no recollection of the crimes the people around him accuse him of having done. Hogg manages all these suggestions so well that the reader might even have a suspicion as to whether Gil-Martin exists at all. It is not made entirely clear – it is up to you to decide.

So. It’s not exactly a walk in the park, but it is certainly an interesting novel to read. There are sections of fairly heavy-going religious discourse, but I suppose it is only to be expected in a book centred on Calvinism. Some bits are fairly humourous, which offers light relief, but for me, it’s worth reading purely for the portrayal of Wringhim’s escalating despair and panic as he realises that he is no longer in control of his actions. Not bad for a Scottish shepherd.