COMPARISON, in a general sense, the consideration of the relation between two persons or things, when opposed and set against each other, by which we judge of their agreement or difference. COMPARISON of Ideas, an act of the mind, whereby it compares its ideas one with another, in respect of extent, degree, time, place, or any other circumstances. See IDEA. Brutes seem not to have this faculty in any great degree: they have, probably, several ideas distinct enough; but cannot compare them farther than as to some sensible circumstances annexed to the objects themselves; the power of comparing general ideas, which we observe in men, we may probably conjecture they have not at all. COMPARISON, in grammar, the inflection of the comparative degree. See GRAMMAR, no 54. COMPARISON, in rhetoric, is a figure whereby two things are considered with regard to some third, which is common to them both. Inflection is the principal, but not the only end of comparison. It may be employed with success in putting a subject in a strong point of view. A lively idea is formed of a man's courage by likening it to that of a lion; and eloquence is exalted in our imagination comparing it to a river overflowing its bank, and involving all in its impetuous course. The same effect is produced by contrast: a man in prosperity becomes more sensible of his happiness, by comparing his condition with that of a person in want of bread. Thus comparison is subservient to poetry as well as to philosophy. Comparisons serve two purposes: when addressed to the understanding, their purpose is to instruct: when to the heart, their purpose is to please. Various means contribute to the latter: 1st, the suggesting some unusual resemblance or contrast; 2d, the setting an object in the strongest light; 3d, the associating an object with others that are agreeable; 4th, the elevating an object; and 5th, the depressing it. And that comparisons