Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, The

The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature | 2003 | 700+ words | Copyright

Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, The, a novel by J. Hogg, published 1824.

In the first part of the book Colwan, believing himself to be one of the ‘saved’ (according to the Calvinist doctrine of predestination), commits a series of horrifying crimes, including the murder of his half-brother. The second section of the book purports to be a memoir written by Colwan, and discovered when his grave was opened a century after his suicide. This reveals that he also murdered his mother, a girl, and a preacher, all under the supposed auspices of divine justice, before coming eventually to believe that the stranger who haunts him is in fact the Devil. His skull, on exhumation, is found to have two horn-like protuberances.

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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, The." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, The." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-PrvtMmrsndCnfssnsfJstfdSn.html

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