et._, p. 439. Here the true antecedent is
_masterpieces_, and not the word _one_; but _was executed_ is singular, and
"by any _hand_" implies but one agent. Either say, "It is one of the
greatest _masterpieces that_ ever _were executed_;" or else, "It is _the
greatest masterpiece that ever was executed by any hand_." But these
assertions differ much in their import.

NOTE II.--"The adjuncts of the nominative do not control its agreement with
the verb; as, Six months' _interest was_ due. The _progress_ of his forces
_was_ impeded."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 131. "The _ship_, with all her
furniture, was destroyed."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 150. "All _appearances_ of
modesty _are_ favourable and prepossessing."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 308. "The
_power_ of relishing natural enjoyments _is_ soon gone."--_Fuller, on the
Gospel_, p. 135. "_I_, your master, _command_ you (not _commands_)"--
_Latham's Hand-Book_, p. 330.[390]

NOTE III.--Any phrase, sentence, mere word, or other sign, taken as one
whole, and made the subject of an assertion, requires a verb in the third
person singular; as, "To lie _is_ base."--_Adam's Gram._, p. 154. "When, to
read and write, _was_ of itself an honorary distinction."--_Hazlitt's
Lect._, p. 40. "To admit a God and then refuse to worship him, _is_ a
modern and inconsistent practice."--_Fuller, on the Gospel_, p. 30. "_We
is_ a personal pronoun."--_L. Murray's Gram._, p. 227. "_Th has_ two
sounds."--_Ib._, p. 161. "The _'s is annexed_ to each."--_Bucke's Gram._,
p. 89. "_Ld. stands_ for _lord_."--_Webster's American Dict._, 8vo.

NOTE IV.--The pronominal adjectives, _each, one,[391] either_, and
_neither_, are always in the third person singular; and, when they are the
leading words in their clauses, they require verbs and pronouns to agree
with them accordingly: as, "_Each_ of you _is_ entitled to _his_
share."--"Let no _one_ deceive _himself_."

NOTE V.--A neuter or a passive verb between two nominatives should be made
to agree with that which precedes it;[392] as, "Words _are_ wind:" except
when the terms are transposed, and the proper subject is put after the verb
by _question_ or _hyperbaton_; as, "His pavilion _were_ dark _waters_ and
thick _clouds_ of the sky."--_Bible_. "Who _art thou_?"--_Ib._ "The wages
of sin _is death_."--_Ib. Murray, Comly_, and others. But, of this last
example, Churchill says, "_Wages are_ the subject, of which it is affirmed,
that _they are_ death."--_New Gram._, p. 314.