Practical philanthropy is a rare virtue. It is seldom that a Howard or a Wilberforce is born into the world; yet there are few towns that do not possess men more or less distinguished for their good offices towards their less fortunate fellow-creatures. Of such men Glasgow has happily had more than an average share. The number and variety of our charitable, friendly, and educational institutions bears testimony to the presence in our midst of a spirit zealous of good works. Our merchant princes, too, subscribe most liberally to every movement projected for the amelioration of the moral, social, or religious condition of the lapsed masses. The story of our lives from year to year is one that contains many bright spots in which the recording angel must take pleasure, although it is also darkened by not a few stains so black, foul, and ghastly, that we are led to despair of ever attaining the ends for which the Church and the State are existent—for which laws and religion are inculcated and enforced.

Mr. Thomas Corbett is a philanthropist of the most practical kind. He does not distribute his means like milk spilled upon the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither does he take cognisance of merely speculative benevolence. Everything to which he has put his hand has prospered, and he has thus laid the foundations of a good name, which is better than all his riches—a name which the working men of his native city will be slow to forget. It is with the establishment of the Great Western Cooking DepÔt that Mr. Corbett's name is most prominently identified. That institution, we believe, owes its origin to a very simple and quite an accidental circumstance. While reading in the Cornhill Magazine the account of a scheme that had been launched by a lady in England for providing poor and destitute children with food, Mrs. Corbett was struck with the idea that something of the kind might be attempted in Glasgow. She mentioned her thought to her husband, and asked him if, out of their abundance, they could not do something to relieve the wants of those to whom the lines had fallen in less pleasant places. Mr. Corbett entered heartily into the project, and determined to set apart a certain sum, to be vested in the way that his wife might deem most likely to do good. At last, the idea of a cooking depÔt was broached. Mr. Corbett foresaw with the eye of a political economist, as well as with the eye of philanthropist, that the best and most effectual means of doing good to the poor and needy in Glasgow, was to assist them to help themselves. Upon this principle he resolved to proceed. Nothing in the shape of the "Great Western" was at that time in existence. Mr. Corbett sent a messenger to London and elsewhere with the view of gathering information that would assist the carrying out of his scheme; but nothing could be found to meet exactly his conception of what a cooking depÔt should be. Proceeding, however, upon his own views of the requirements of the city, he invested £300 in the lease and fitting up of a cooking depÔt at the Broomielaw, beside the Sailor's Home. It was given out that the establishment was to be conducted upon the principle of supplying provisions at as nearly prime cost as possible. A tariff of charges was prepared, contracts were entered into with butchers, bakers, and other tradesmen, and the experiment was thus fairly launched. It was a great success. The Americans have faith in the "almighty dollar." Mr. Corbett had an equally firm belief in the efficacy of the "almighty penny," as a circulating medium. He took care that, so far as it was practicable, nothing should be sold for more than a penny. A bowl of porridge, that might satisfy a hungry man for breakfast, was to be had for what Montague Tigg would call this "absurdly low figure." A plate of potatoes, an egg, or a cup of coffee, cost no more. The very novelty of the thing drew thousands to the cooking depÔt who had no economical purpose to serve. They were more than satisfied. Many who came, like the scoffer to the church in Goldsmith's "Deserted Village," to criticise and condemn the new institution, remained to admire and praise it. The depÔt became so popular that other branches had to be opened up in a very short time in the most central parts of the city. Mr. Corbett did not hesitate to supply the funds necessary for the development of his scheme. He bestowed his means ungrudgingly, stipulating only that the books should be periodically examined by competent accountants, and that the profits should be divided among the charitable and benevolent institutions in the city. Beyond receiving a certain interest for his money, Mr. Corbett has never fingered a farthing of the profits, and when he left Glasgow a few years ago he had invested altogether upwards of £8000 in the scheme. The accumulated profits, which have been divided, according to his behest, for charitable purposes, amount to upwards of £7000.

With the management and chief characteristics of the Great Western Cooking DepÔt every citizen must be familiar. The cooking establishment is situated in Pitt Street, from whence enormous supplies of victuals are sent out every morning to all parts of the city. Including Glasgow and its suburbs, there are now twenty-eight branches of the Cooking DepÔt in operation. Most of them are in the immediate vicinity of public works, and are largely taken advantage of by the workmen, who, in the great majority of cases, reside at a considerable distance from the works, and could only go home to dinner at great personal inconvenience. The same tariff of charges prevails at every one of the branches, and all of them are supplied direct from the Central DepÔt. The business of the institution has become so gigantic that applications to establish other branches in different parts of the city have had to be refused. The principal branches are in Jamaica Street and Mitchell Lane. These two buildings were built by Mr. Corbett himself; but the branches at the public works have mostly been built by the employers, who rent it to the manager of the Cooking DepÔt for a nominal sum. At the Mitchell Lane branch from 1400 to 1600 people dine daily. The Jamaica Street branch dines an almost equally large number. The milk of 140 cows, obtained from four of the largest dairies in Scotland, is consumed at the various branches every day; and the consumption of "cookies" and rolls averages 20,000 per diem. Some idea of the quantity of porridge consumed may be gathered from the fact that the cost of oatmeal is from £90 to £100 monthly; and of eggs, butter, butcher's meat, and vegetables the consumption is fabulous. The average daily number of visitors to the depÔt at its various branches since the month of August last has been 10,000 to 12,000. The daily attendance at the present time is greater than it has ever been before. The attendance is not confined to working men, so called. Clerks, shopkeepers, and strangers to the city patronize the depÔt most liberally. And well they may, for when eggs are selling elsewhere at 1s 4d they can be had in the "Great Western" for a penny each, and other provisions are sold in the same proportion. This result is only possible by balancing one period of the year with another, so that when provisions are much cheaper the difference will be made up.

The question has often been asked, why has the Great Western Cooking DepÔt turned out such a marvellous success as compared with institutions of a similar kind in other parts of the country? The most simple and correct answer is that other cooking depots though similar were not the same. An attempt was made in London some years ago to establish a restaurant on the same principle, but although it was backed by the advice and influence of Lord Houghton and some other leading men, it proved a complete failure. It is a trite saying that "too many cooks spoil the broth," but in this instance the saying was verified. A large committee was appointed to take charge of the arrangements. A committee means divided management and conflicting opinions. So far as the Great Western is concerned, everything from the out set has been under the control of one man (Mr. Jenkins) who still continues to preside over the destinies of the institution. But the vigorous and able management of the Great Western had not more to do with its success than the demand which it was fitted to supply. There had been nothing of the same kind previously in existence, and it was only necessary for the establishment to be opened to command support. With regard to its moral aspects, the depÔt occupies a high platform. Nothing in the shape of intoxicating liquors is allowed to be sold on the premises. When counselled to introduce beer as an adjunct to dinner, Mr. Corbett replied that sooner than relinquish the principle of conducting the establishment on a strictly temperance footing, he would shut it up altogether. The good sense of this resolution has been proved by the results, for despite the enormous number of working men who frequent it, there has never been a police case arising out of a disturbance in any of the branches. In Bradford, some years ago, Mr. Isaac Holden projected a cooking depÔt on the principle of the "Great Western," but with this important difference—that he made it partake of the dual character of a club and an eating-house by introducing spirituous liquors and games of different sorts. What between smoking and drinking, the place became too noisy and rough for respectable men to have anything to do with it, and after lingering for some months it died an inglorious death, showing that

does a not injudicious thing, so far as institutions of this kind are concerned. Before taking leave of the Cooking DepÔt, we may state that it has been visited by many illustrious personages, who have manifested a deep interest in its history and progress. Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone, when they visited Glasgow some years ago, were shown all over one of the branches, and had the modus operandi thoroughly explained to them by Mr. Melvin, who has always acted as Mr. Corbett's right hand man. The Premier was very curious to see the kind of broth that could be produced at a penny per bowl, and both he and Mrs. Gladstone, after tasting the soup, pronounced it to be very excellent and wholesome. The commercial aspect of the institution was, however, its most interesting phase to Mr. Gladstone, who could hardly understand how such a gigantic establishment could be made to pay with such small profits. Ultimately it was explained to him that it was a fixed rule to have a farthing of profit on every pennyworth sold, to which he replied that "he knew something of the power of the farthing."

Mr. Corbett was the founder, along with his friend, Mr. Melvin, of the Working Men's Club in Trongate. He expended a sum of £250 in furnishing the club, and laid down certain conditions for its management, the most important of which was that it should be conducted on strictly temperance principles. Having got such a capital start, the Club has never looked behind it. It is now worth fully £1100, and last year the number of visitors was upwards of 100,000.

Under the auspices of the Central Club, a Working Men's Industrial Exhibition was held during the winter of 1865-66 in the Polytechnic Buildings, Argyle Street. The preliminary outlay for this exhibition was considerable. Mr. Corbett was appealed to, and he at once gave a cheque for £500 to start the exhibition, intimating that he should not expect to be recouped if it was a failure. Happily it turned out otherwise, for a sum of £1200 was cleared by the exhibition, and it gave the Central Club an impetus that it has never since lost. Why has the experiment not been repeated? Has the Central Working Men's Club lost its cunning?

The latest, but not the least important exhibition of Mr. Corbett's philanthropy to which we shall refer is his bequest of £2000 to Mr. William Quarrier, for the founding of a Home for Destitute and Orphan Children. To the results of Mr. Quarrier's scheme allusion has from time to time been made in the local prints. We need only remark here that it is calculated to supply one of the most pressing and important social and moral wants of the city.

The part which Mr. Corbett has taken in connection with the establishment of a Seaside Home at Saltcoats is so generally known that to refer to it is enough. For the permanent support of these homes, he has built a number of model working men's dwellings at Whiteinch. The architectural and other arrangements of these homes were planned by Mr. Corbett himself. There are altogether sixteen dwellings from each of which a rent of £10 per annum is drawn. Altogether, Mr. Corbett has expended about £1500 upon the Saltcoats Homes, in addition to what he has provided by way of endowment.

With reference to Mr. Corbett's family history, we have left ourselves little room to speak. His father was a doctor in the Gorbals, and Thomas, after having been educated at the High School of Glasgow, commenced business as a tea merchant. While trading in this capacity he turned his attention to shipping, and in the course of time he went into the Australian produce trade altogether, freighting vessels on a large scale to and from Glasgow. His Australian business has been so prosperous that he was induced a few years ago to remove altogether to London, where it could have more scope. He still continues to reside in the Metropolis, although he retains a lively interest in the affairs of his native city, which he visits at least once a year, while passing to and from his beautiful marine residence at Kilcreggan.