It is a long jump from 1708 to 1826, and, of course, the charter was renewed many times between the two dates, the Government generally taking advantage of each extension to force some concession from the Bank, which, as its credit and business expanded, had increased its original capital by many millions; but 1826 was the year of reform, and the intervening period possesses little interest except to the student. Between 1826 and 1829 the Bank opened eleven provincial branches, but those which were established at Gloucester, Swansea, Exeter, and Norwich have since been closed. Joint Stock Banks were then started in the provinces, though not with very happy results, for in 1832 their reckless trading was severely stigmatised by Lord Overstone; but it was not until 1834 that the first joint stock bank, the London and Westminster, was started in London, a clause having been inserted in the Act when the charter of the Bank of England was renewed in 1833, to the effect that, provided a joint stock bank did not issue notes, it was at liberty to carry on business in the City. Both the Bank of England and the London private bankers opposed the new bank with acerbity, the former refusing to open an account for it in its books, and the latter declining to admit it into the Clearing House. Not satisfied with this, the Bank brought an action against the Westminster. But it was quite natural that the newcomer should have been received in this fashion, for innovations, however necessary and useful, are seldom accepted rapturously in this country, which appears to have almost a Chinese dislike of the unusual. Besides, it is not the custom of the country, even for the sake of appearances, to receive a trade rival with open arms, and it would have been a little surprising had the Bank surrendered its monopoly of joint stock banking in England without a struggle, whilst its desire, after being stripped of some of its privileges, to annoy its despoilers, was, if not laudable, eminently human. In 1836 the London Joint Stock Bank followed the example of the Westminster, and in 1839 the Union Bank of London, which has recently amalgamated with Messrs. Smiths, opened its doors, while such well-known banks as the National Provincial Bank of England and the London and County Bank were formed in 1833 and 1836 respectively. The trade of the country had by that time far outgrown the resources of the Bank of England, which was quite unable to minister to the increasing demands of a prosperous and progressive England; and to-day the only monopoly which the Bank enjoys is that left to it by the Act of 1844.