Finding the drudgery of a sedentary occupation and the flatness and quietude of village life irksome to his active temperament and aspiring spirit, after a few years' work at shoemaking, he made off to sea. His taste lying in the direction of the royal naval service, he went and joined himself to a man-of-war. Here he had the good fortune to come under the care and command of Sir John Narborough. This distinguished officer had once been in Cloudesley's position as a man-of-war's cabin-boy, and having shown himself a smart sailor and an industrious student of navigation, had been rapidly promoted by his generous captain, Sir Christopher Myngs. Sir John Narborough was therefore well disposed, by his kindly disposition and his own early experience, to favor any youth of promise placed in similar circumstances to those through which he himself had passed. In young Cloudesley the gallant captain seems to have seen his own character portrayed and his own career enacted over again. The lad was smart at seamanship, and uncommonly diligent when off watch in the study of any nautical books he could lay hands on. He seems to have found out very early in his course that the secret of success in life lies in being _ready_, when the time comes, to seize and use the great opportunities of fortune which sooner or later come in every one's way; that fortune waits on diligence and courage; and that the future is pretty secure to the man who, whatever be his position, works hard and does his plain duty every day.