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Katy Fu
what's the meaning of "in fortune and by fate" and "interests" mean in the following sentence? The young nation was already distinguished by free inquiry and a "diffusion of knowledge through the community, such as has been before altogether unknown and unheard of. The fate of America was inseparably connected, fast bound up, in fortune and by fate, with these great interests.
Jan 1, 2017 3:07 AM
Answers · 3
1
This is a pretty abridged version of what Daniel Webster actually said (and you have an opening quote with no closing quote, which makes it doubly hard to make sense of which bit Webster said and which bit the person quoting him said). "Bound up" means "connected with" or "tied to" or "linked to". "Fortune" means either luck, or your resources, or your future prospects or wellbeing. "Fate" is linked to the somewhat supernatural belief that future events are pre-ordained; so "fate" is a word that tries to capture the spirit of an inevitable series of future events. Therefore, "America is bound up, in fortune and by fate, with these interests" can be re-worded to say "these interests will play a part in the future wellbeing of America. And those same interest will play a part in what the future has in store for America". I don't know whether that helps, hopefully it does. I think that having the entire Daniel Webster quote, and the actual interests he's talking about (most of which you've snipped out of your quote), and some kind of sensitivity for the language and events of the time, would help make sense of what he's saying. Few people would write like that today. Also, if you're curious what "fast" means in "fast bound up", it does not mean "quickly". It means "tightly". If you "make a rope fast" then you fasten the rope to something. It's an old-fashioned expression these days.
January 1, 2017
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