Since the Protestant clergy for the most part wear gray or some variant from the wholly black suit, my Roman collar and black garb usually identify me in England as a Roman Catholic cleric. In any case, I have always been treated with the utmost courtesy by Englishmen, even in Devonshire and Cornwall, where anti Catholic feeling has supposedly existed the strongest and longest.

Nowhere have I seen public expression of anti-Catholicism. On my first Guy Fawkes Day here, I found Catholics as well as non Catholics celebrating with the traditional fireworks and bonfires, and was told that most Englishmen either do not know or are not concerned with the historical significance of the day. A Birmingham newspaper printed in a column for children an article entitled ``The True Story of Guy Fawkes,'' which began:

``When you pile your'' guy ``on the bonfire tomorrow night, I wonder how much of the true story of Guy Fawkes you will remember? In the 355 years since the first Guy Fawkes Night, much of the story has been forgotten, so here is a reminder.'' The article proceeded to give an inaccurate account of a catholic plot to kill King James /1 1,.

In spite of the increase in numbers and prestige brought about by the conversions of Newman and other Tractarians of the 1840's and 1850's, the Catholic segment of England one hundred years ago was a very small one (four per cent, or 800000) which did not enjoy a gracious hearing from the general public. The return of the Catholic hierarchy in 1850 was looked upon with indignant disapprobation and, in fact, was charged with being a gesture of disloyalty. In 1864 Newman professedly had to write his Apologia with his keenest feelings in order to be believed and to command a fair hearing from English readers.