Massinger's last play--which is unfortunately lost--The Anchoress of Pausilippo, was acted Jan. 26, 1640, about six weeks before his death, which happened on the 17th of March, 1640. He went to bed in good health, says Langbaine, and was found dead in the morning, in his own house on the Bankside. He was buried in the churchyard of St. Saviour's, and the comedians paid the last sad duty to his name, by attending him to the grave. It does not appear, though every stone and every fragment of a stone has been carefully examined, that any monument or inscription of any kind marked the place where his dust was deposited. "The memorial of his mortality," says Gifford, "is given with a pathetic brevity, which accords but too well with the obscure and humble passages of his life: March 20, 1639-40, buried Philip Massinger, A STRANGER." Such is all the information that remains to us of this distinguished poet. But though we are ignorant of every circumstance respecting him but that he lived, wrote, and died, we may yet form some idea of his personal character from the recommendatory poems prefixed to his several plays, in which, as Mr. Gifford justly observes, the language of his panegyrists, though warm, expresses an attachment apparently derived not so much from his talents as his virtues: he is their _beloved_, _much-esteemed_, _dear_, _worthy_, _deserving_, _honoured_, _long-known_, and _long-loved friend_. All the writers of his life represent him as a man of singular modesty, gentleness, candour, and affability; nor does it appear that he ever made or found an enemy. LIST OF MASSINGER'S PLAYS. _Those marked * are extant. Those marked + were destroyed by Mr. Warburton's servant._ + The Forced Lady. T. + The Noble Choice. C. + The Wandering Lovers. C. + Philenzo and Hippolita. T. C. + Antonio and Vallia. C. + The Tyrant. T. + Fast and Welcome. C. + The Woman's Plot. C. * The Old Law. C. * The Virgin Martyr. T. * The Unnatural Combat. T. * The Duke of Milan. T. * The Bondman. T. C. * The Renegado. T. C. * The Parliament of Love. C. + The Spanish Viceroy. C. * The Roman Actor. T. The Judge. * The Great Duke of Florence. The Honour of Women. * The Maid of Honour. T.C. * The Picture. T. C. + Minerva's Sacrifice. T. * The Emperor of the East. T. C. + Believe as you List. C. The Unfortunate Piety. T. * The Fatal Dowry. T. * A New Way to Pay Old Debts. C. * The City Madam. C. * The Guardian. C. The Tragedy of Cleander. * A very Woman. T. C. The Orator. * The Bashful Lover. T. C. The King and the Subject. Alexius, or the Chaste Lover. The Fair Anchoress of Pausilippo. FOOTNOTES: [1] The register of his birth is not to be found, but all writers of his life agree in naming this city as the place of his nativity; and their account is corroborated by the college entry, which styles him _Salisburiensis_. [2] Dedication to The Bondman.