2 MAY 1931, Page 3

Professor Herford Professor Herford, who died at Oxford last week

at the age of seventy-eight, held the chair of English Literature at Manchester for twenty years (1901-1921). He was notable among his colleagues less for scholarship in the narrow sense than for his interpretation of the ideas of great writers, whether English or foreign. He firmly believed in the power of literature to unite men of all nations and bring peace. It was an idealistic faith, perhaps, but its influence was considerable and beneficial. Professor Herford strove with special zeal after the War to bring English readers into touch again with German writers, and to promote the recon- ciliation that has now happily gone far. He himself was a devoted student of Goethe and helped to found the English Goethe Society.