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The Shakespeare-Expositor

Act 4 — Act IV.

Reading edition

Sc. 1.

"I heard you say that you had rather refuse The offer of an hundred thousand crowns Than Bolingbroke's return to England."

This is nonsense, and the last line is unmetrical. A verb is evidently lost; if we read 'Than to see,' or 'Than see proud,' all becomes clear.

"Of good old Abraham. My Lords Appellants."

"Give me the crown. Here, cousin, seize the crown. Here cousin, on this side my hand; and on that side yours."

Some reject, as a needless repetition, which destroys the metre, the 'Here cousin' in the second line; but it serves to mark the impatience of the King.

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