In 1592, none of the three had
any profession but that of literature, so far as I am aware. The man
who had a special profession, and also wrote, was not one of these
three; nor was he Tom Nash, a mere literary gentleman, pamphleteer
and playwright.
I do not know the name of any one of the three to whom Greene
addressed the Groatsworth, though the atheistic writer of tragedies
seems meant, and disgracefully meant, for Marlowe. I only know that
Chettle is expressing his regrets for Greene's language to some one
whom he applauded as to his exercise of his profession; and who,
according to "divers of worship," had also "facetious grace in
writing." "Myself have seen him no less civil than he is excellent
in the quality he professes"; whether or not this means that Chettle
has SEEN his excellence in his profession, I cannot tell for certain;
but Chettle's remark is, at least, contrasted with what he gives
merely from report--"the facetious grace in writing" of the man in
question. HIS writing is not part of his profession, so he is not,
in 1592 (I conceive), Lodge, Peele, Marlowe, or Nash.
Who, then, is this mysterious personage? Malone, Dyce, Steevens,
Collier, Halliwell-Phillipps, Knight, Sir Sidney Lee, Messrs. Gosse
and Garnett, and Mr. J. C. Collins say that he is Will Shakspere.
But Mr. Fleay and Mr. Castle, whose "mind" is "legal," have pointed
out that this weird being cannot be Shake-scene (or Shakspere, if
Greene meant Shakspere), attacked by Greene.
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