Excerpt from Lectures on the Early History of the Kingship The following lectures were delivered at Trinity College, Cambridge, in the Lent term of this year, under the title of The Sacred Character and Magical Functions of Kings in Early Society. The general theory here sketched of the evolution of the Kingship formed the subject of two lectures given in London at the Royal Institution last May. In preparing the manuscript for the press I have made a few unim portant changes, mostly verbal, and added references to my authorities. Otherwise the lectures are printed as they were spoken. Substantially they consist of a series of extracts from the forthcoming third edition of my book The Golden Bough, which will contain fuller information on many points. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.