The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner

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 is an 1824 novel by the Scottish author James Hogg. The novel was published anonymously and was deemed a commercial failure before being reevaluated by later generations as an innovative, experimental novel. The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner has been adapted for film and radio.

This guide uses the 2010 Oxford World Classics edition of the novel.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide discuss suicide.

Plot Summary

The novel is divided into two distinct parts. The Editor’s Narrative functions as a framing device, bookending the Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Sinner. In the opening section of the Editor’s Narrative, the unnamed editor presents the story of Laird George Colwan, a Scottish nobleman. The story is assembled from documents and witness accounts, which have been carefully scrutinized by the editor. Colwan, the editor says, marries a woman named Rabina, but the romance soon vanishes from their relationship. Rabina considers herself to be a devout Christian. She is appalled by Colwan’s love of drink, dance, and general debauchery.

The couple produces two boys, in spite of their disagreements. George, the eldest son, is named after his father. When the second son is born, however, Colwan insists that he is not the father. Rabina leaves with the baby, finding refuge with Robert Wringhim, a priest who agrees to raise the baby in a religious household. As such, the baby is named Robert. He grows up in a devoutly religious home, where he is taught that Laird Colwan and George Colwan are evil. Meanwhile, Colwan moves his mistress, Arabella Logan, into his house. She helps him to raise his beloved son, George.

As he grows older, George notices a dark figure following him through the streets. After he fights the stranger, he learns that the stranger is actually his estranged brother, Robert, who refuses George’s fraternal approaches. Soon, George feels trapped inside his own home. One night, he goes out drinking with friends. He is found dead the next day. A man named Drummond is charged with murder, but he insists that he is innocent. George’s death sends his father to an early grave. Arabella, brokenhearted, wants to know more about the murder. Her investigations lead her to a sex worker named Bell Calvert, who says she saw the murder take place. Though she insists that Drummond is innocent, she claims to have met Drummond’s exact Double during the time of the murder. Arabella and Bell are soon confronted by Robert and an unknown stranger. They alert the authorities and a mob rushes to Robert’s home, though they find it already empty.

The editor presents an unaltered document, allegedly attributed to Robert. In the memoirs, Robert recalls his 18th birthday. He is brought into his stepfather’s church, a small religious order who believe that they have a duty to punish sinners in the defense of Christianity. Robert then meets a stranger named Gil-Martin, who speaks knowledgably about religion during long conversations with Robert. During this time, Rabina worries that her son is changing. Robert is shocked to discover that Gil-Martin can change his appearance. He spends more and more time with his new friend, who convinces him to carry out attacks against sinners. Together, they murder a supposedly blasphemous priest. Gil-Martin frames someone else for the crime. Robert becomes obsessed with George. Gil-Martin adopts Drummond’s appearance and helps Robert kill George in a duel. After, Robert inherits the family estate. He comes to resent his mother and Gil-Martin, developing depression and experiencing increasingly frequent blackouts.

One day, Robert wakes from a particularly long blackout. Six months have passed, and he is accused of murdering his mother and fathering a child with a young woman. A mob tries to arrest Robert but Gil-Martin helps him flee. While they wander through a rural area, Robert escapes from the increasingly unbearable clutches of Gil-Martin. He is chased away from the homes of the poor and accused of associating with the devil. This is when he begins his memoirs, hoping to warn others against his mistakes. Publishers turn him away, however. One day, he encounters Gil-Martin, who convinces him that they should join together in a suicide pact. Robert agrees as he wants to be released from the misery that is his life.

Robert’s confession ends and the editor’s narrative resumes. The editor details the means by which Robert’s memoirs were found, after the editor found a letter in a magazine and sought out its author. The investigation led the editor to a grave, in which a decomposing body lay. The body matched the description of Robert and, next to him in the grave, was the memoir. Though the editor confesses to not fully understand what Robert has written, the audience is given the opportunity to decide what happened for themselves.