The following meanings are expressed by with:—­

(1) Personal accompaniment.

     The advance, with Heyward at its head, had already reached the
     defile.—­COOPER.

     For many weeks I had walked with this poor friendless girl.—­DE
     QUINCEY.

(2) Instrumentality.

     With my crossbow I shot the albatross.—­COLERIDGE.

     Either with the swingle-bar, or with the haunch of our near
     leader, we had struck the off-wheel of the little gig.—­DE
     QUINCEY.

(3) Cause, reason, motive.

     He was wild with delight about Texas.—­HALE.

     She seemed pleased with the accident.—­HOWELLS.

(4) Estimation, opinion.

     How can a writer’s verses be numerous if with him, as with
     you, “poetry is not a pursuit, but a pleasure"?—­LANG.

     It seemed a supreme moment with him.—­HOWELLS.

(5) Opposition.

     After battling with terrific hurricanes and typhoons on every
     known sea.—­ALDRICH.

     The quarrel of the sentimentalists is not with life, but with
     you.—­LANG.

(6) The equivalent of notwithstanding, in spite of.

     With all his sensibility, he gave millions to the
     sword.—­CHANNING.

     Messala, with all his boldness, felt it unsafe to trifle
     further.—­WALLACE

(7) Time.

     He expired with these words.—­SCOTT.

     With each new mind a new secret of nature transpires.—­EMERSON.

Exercise.—­Find sentences with four uses of with.

HOW TO PARSE PREPOSITIONS.

327.  Since a preposition introduces a phrase and shows the relation between two things, it is necessary, first of all, to find the object of the preposition, and then to find what word the prepositional phrase limits.  Take this sentence:—­

     The rule adopted on board the ships on which I have met “the man
     without a country” was, I think, transmitted from the
     beginning.—­E.E.  HALE.

The phrases are (1) on board the ships, (2) on which, (3) without a country, (4) from the beginning.  The object of on board is ships; of on, which; of without, country; of from, beginning.

In (1), the phrase answers the question where, and has the office of an adverb in telling where the rule is adopted; hence we say, on board shows the relation between ships and the participle adopted.

In (2), on which modifies the verb have met by telling where:  hence on shows the relation between which (standing for ships) and the verb have met.