His plays may be divided into three classes: first, those which have come down to us under his name; secondly, those which he wrote with Fletcher or other authors; and, thirdly, those which have disappeared. It is not easy to draw the border-line between the first and second classes. In the last forty years the students of English literature have devoted much attention to verse and other tests, and there are those who profess themselves competent to decide which parts of a composite play were written by the various collaborators. It is clear that the use of these tests requires caution. An author may sometimes experiment in the style of somebody else; it has been held that Shakspere wrote _Henry VIII_ in the manner of Fletcher, his younger rival; and Delius was of opinion that _The Two Noble Kinsmen_ is due to two imitators, one of Shakspere and one of Fletcher. Boyle speaks confidently as follows:(81) “Mr. Fleay used almost exclusively versification to distinguish author from author. Nor is this by any means so bold an undertaking as it seems. I have used other tests apart from the versification, and have almost uniformly found the impressions derived from the latter correct.” Our confidence in Boyle is shaken when he attributes(82) the first two acts of _A New Way to pay Old Debts_ to Fletcher on the evidence of the double endings. He points out that the allusion to the taking of Breda on July 1st, 1625,(83) is just possible, as Fletcher was buried on August 29th, 1625. This is clearly a case where we must take other than metrical considerations into account. Has the comedy the sparkle, the bustle, and the improbability of Fletcher? Again, it is not too much to say that it is a waste of time to apply verse tests to Tourneur; a great part of the _Atheist’s Tragedy_ is not poetry at all, but prose measured off in lengths. _The Virgin Martyr_ states on its title-page that Dekker was part author. Similarly, _The Fatal Dowry_ was partly due to Field. Part of _A Very Woman_(84) is held by many critics to be written by Fletcher; certainly the style of the play is in places more tender and more racy than we should expect from Massinger. _The Old Law_ is said to have been written by Massinger, Middleton, and Rowley. It was a popular play, and often revived; its first appearance was in 1599,(85) when our poet was but fifteen years old. His share in it must therefore consist of additions or modifications at a later date. Certainly there is little in the play which reminds one of him; original as is its plot, and tender its pathos, both its tragedy and comedy are in a simpler manner than his.(86) On the other hand, Boyle arrives at some startling results when he investigates the works of Fletcher.(87) He attributes to Massinger parts of _Thierry and Theodoret_, _The Queen of Corinth_, _The Knight of Malta_, _The Custom of the Country_, _The Little French Lawyer_, _The Fair Maid of the Inn_, and of several other plays.(88)