The Lord of Hardivyle

Anonymous novel first published in 1800. "Already had the Coast of Northumberland been lost to the sight, when the sun, sinking into the ocean, foretold a storm by its sanguine appearance. The night came on apace terrible and gloomy; the lightning flashed and the roar of distant thunder was heard; portentous meteors shot athwart the gloom, and each mountainous billow threatened them with immediate destruction. By the sudden shock of a wave the rudder was dashed to atoms, and the vessel left to the mercy of the winds and the raging sea; for some time she was drove back by the storm, when they perceived the land directly before them; unable to govern the ship, they foresaw their destruction was inevitable. "