Q:

Antecedent of "it" in "it fared with him as with the storm-tossed ship" in context

When on that shivering winter's night, the Pequod thrust her vindictive bows into the cold malicious waves, who should I see standing at her helm but Bulkington! I looked with sympathetic awe and fearfulness upon the man, who in mid-winter just landed from a four years' dangerous voyage, could so unrestingly push off again for still another tempestuous term. The land seemed scorching to his feet. Wonderfullest things are ever the unmentionable; deep memories yield no epitaphs; this six-inch chapter is the stoneless grave of Bulkington. Let me only say that it fared with him as with the storm-tossed ship, that miserably drives along the leeward land.

What does the bolded it refer to here?

A:

The "it" has no antecedent. It's being used in the same way as in "it turned out that.." or "it so happened that...", or even "it rained yesterday". The "it" in those sentences has no antecedent. The actual wording of the passage "it fared with him" is a very old-fashioned way of saying "it was his fate". He was destined to end up like a ship sailing too close to a leeward shore in a storm - that is, he was heading for destruction.

A:

There is no antecedent in the foregoing passage, nor is one required. 
This is the same indeterminate "it" as when you ask your friend "How is it going?"  "It" is a vague concept that can encompass "life", "fortune", "the universe"...

