The  peculiar  character  of  the  English
Reformation,  seen  in  its  preservation  of
episcopacy  and  its  deliberate  appeal  to  the
primitive  Church  as  well  as  to  the  Scriptures,
and  testified  to  by  the  criticisms  of  foreign
reformers  as  well  as  by  English  theologians
under  Elizabeth  (see  especially  the  Zurich
Letters),  was  shown  more  plainly  as  the  reign
of  Elizabeth  went  on.  Externally  it  led  to
long  controversies,  in  which  the  works  of
Bishop  Jewel  {q.v.)  are  specially  significant,
against  the  Church  of  Rome.  These  go  on
under  the  Stuarts,  and  Laud's  controversy
with  Fisher  is  specially  noteworthy.  On
the  other  side  is  the  great  struggle  against
the  Puritans,  in  which  Hooker  defined  the
Anglican  position.  It  was  sometimes  con-
venient for  the  government  to  misrepresent
its  position  with  a  view  to  political  alliances
abroad.  But  the  basis  nevertheless  laid  down
in  theory  was  gradually  worked  out  in  fact,
and  by  its  practical  efficiency  the  English
Church  had  by  the  end  of  Elizabeth's  reign
greatly  strengthened  its  hold  upon  the  nation.
