Museum, - is a collection of rare and interesting objects, selected from the whole circle of natural history and the arts, and deposited in apartments or buildings, either by the commendable generosity of rich individuals, general governments, or monarchs, for the inspection of the learned, and the great mass of the public.

The term, which means literally a study, or place of retirement, is said to have been given originally to that part of the royal palace at Alexandria, appropriated for the use of learned men, and the reception of the literary works then extant. According to ancient writers, they were formed into classes or colleges, each of which had a competent sum assigned for their support; and we are further informed, that the establishment was founded by Ptolemy Philadelphus, who added a most extensive library.

It would answer little purpose to trace the history of Museums, as the earlier part of it is involved in obscurity; and as we approach our own times, they multiply beyond a possibility of noticing even the most important. Within our brief limits we shall, therefore, confine ourselves to those at the Vatican, Florence, Paris, Oxford, and London.

The Museum of the Vatican might originally have been said to occupy all the apartments of the palace, which are more numerous than in any other royal residence in the world: the pictures, the books, the manuscripts, statues, bas-reliefs, and every other description of the labours of ancient artists, were select, uncommon, and valuable in the extreme, particularly the Laocoon, already described, and said, by Pliny, to have been made from a single mass of marble; which circumstance has since caused a doubt whether that of the Vatican is really the original, as Michael Angelo discovered that it is composed of more than one piece. It was found, in 1506, near the baths of Titus, and, whether an original or a copy, has obtained and deserves every possible admiration. - This invaluable collection continued to increase for several centuries, and till nearly the present period.

The grand dukes of Tuscany were for a long series of years ardent admirers of the arts, ancient and modern, and regretted no expense in obtaining the most rare and beautiful objects which vast treasures were capable of procuring; consequently their Museum at Florence vied with that of Rome, and, in some instances, the value of particular articles exceeded any possibility of rivalship: we allude to the Venus de Medicis, of which Keysler speaks thus, in his excellent account of that part of the continent: "I shall conclude this short criticism on the celebrated Venus de Medicis, with the following observation, made by some able connoisseurs, namely, that if the different parts of this famous statue be examined separately, as the head, nose, etc. and compared with the like parts of others, it would not be impossible to find similar parts equal, if not superior, to those of the Venus de Medicis; but if the delicacy of the shape, the attitude, and symmetry of the whole, be considered as an assemblage of beauties, it cannot be paralleled in the whole world. This beautiful statue is placed between two others of the same goddess, both which would be admired by spectators in any other place; but here all their beauties are eclipsed by those of the Venus de Medicis, to which they can be considered only as foils to augment the lustre of that admired statue." Little is known in England of the present state of the Florentine Museum, but it is feared to be deplorable.

We shall now turn our attention to the Muset Central des Arts, formed in the Louvre at Paris, composed with the best collections on the continent, and consequently consisting of the finest specimens of human art.

The method adopted for arranging the paintings here assembled is judicious, as they are classed in nations, by which means the eye is conducted gradually to the acme of the art, in the works of the Italian masters.

The gallery of antiquities is directly below the gallery of pictures; and, to give some idea of the nature of the general contents, we shall mention the names of the several divisions, which are: La Salle de Saisons, - La Salle des Hommes illus-tres,-La Salle des Romains, - La Salle de Laocoon, - La Salle de J'Apolon, - and La Salle des Muses. The Laocoon, which we have noticed in our account of the Vatican, here received distinguished honours, within a space railed in; and the Apollo Belvidere is equally honoured, in giving name to one of the halls.

These exquisite works are described in a catalogue, which may be obtained in the gallery; and of the manner we shall venture to give a specimen, hoping that a similar method may be adopted, to explain the objects offered to view in our national repository. Under the head 'Pythian Apollo, called the Apollo Belvidere, the author of the catalogue observes, "This statue, the most sublime of those preserved by time, was found, near the close of the fifteenth century, twelve leagues from Rome, at Cape d'Anzo, on the borders of the sea, in the ruins of ancient Antium, a city equally celebrated for its Temple of Fortune, and for its pleasant mansions, erected by successive emperors, which, emulous of each other, they decorated with the most rare and excellent works of art. Julius II. when a cardinal, obtained this statue, and placed it in the palace where he resided, near the church of the Holy Apostles. After his elevation to the pontificate, he had it removed to the Belvidere of the Vatican, where it remained three centuries an object of universal admiration. A hero, conducted by victory, drew it from the Vatican, and causing it to be conveyed to the banks of the Seine, has fixed it here for ever."

Another Museum established at Paris after the return of order, is that of the National Monuments. These were indiscriminately destroyed, or mutilated, during the first frantic emotions of the revolution; and this act contributed not a little to the general dislike it excited: at length the most enlightened part of the National Convention decreed imprisonment in chains to those who should thenceforward injure or destroy the marble and bronze records of their country. Le Noir, a man of taste and learning, seized this opportunity of rescuing the French nation from the reproach it had incurred by destroying what was honourable to themselves; and conceived that, though late, it might still be possible to collect whole monuments in some instances, and fragments in others, sufficient to interest foreigners in favour of his country, or at least to evince to them that a change in sentiment had taken place. Fortunately his plan received public encouragement, and he has, through the assistance of government, procured an astonishing number of specimens from all parts of the kingdom.