--Upon the whole,
_Johnson_'s Compositions are like finished Cabinets, where every
Part is wrought up with the most excellent Skill and Exactness;--
_Shakespear_'s like magnificent Castles, not perfectly finished or
regular, but adorn'd with such bold and magnificent Designs, as at
once delight and astonish you with their Beauty and Grandeur.
RAILLERY is a genteel poignant Attack of a _Person_ upon any
_slight Foibles_, _Oddities_, or _Embarrassments_ of his, in
which he is tender, or may be supposed to be tender, and
unwilling to come to a free Explanation.
SATIRE is a witty and severe Attack of _mischievous Habits_ or
_Vices_;
RIDICULE is a free _Attack_ of any _Motly Composition_, wherein a
real or affected _Excellence_ and _Defect_ both jointly appear,
_glaring_ together, and _mocking_ each other, in the same
_Subject_.
Hence the Aim of _Raillery_, is to please you, by some little
_Embarrassment_ of a _Person_; Of _Satire_, to scourge _Vice_, and
to deliver it up to your just _Detestation_; And of _Ridicule_, to
set an Object in a mean ludicrous Light, so as to expose it to your
_Derision_ and _Contempt_.
It appears therefore that _Raillery_ and _Ridicule_ differ in several
Circumstances.
1. _Raillery_ can only be employ'd in relation to _Persons_, but
_Ridicule_ may be employ'd in what relates either to _Persons_, or
other _Objects_.
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