Manasseh Dawes

Manasseh Dawes (died 1829) was an English barrister and miscellaneous writer.

Life

Dawes was a barrister of the Inner Temple. He left the bar and lived quietly at Clifford's Inn for the last thirty-six years of his life. He died 2 April 1829.

Works

Dawes took the Whig side on the American War of Independence, and the law of libel; but defended William Blackstone against Jeremy Bentham, had doubts as to abolishing tests, and held that philosophical truth was beyond reach. His major works were:

• Letter to Lord Chatham on American Affairs, 1777 (on the title-page he describes himself as author of "several anonymous pieces").
• Essay on Intellectual Liberty, 1780; it criticised Jeremy Bentham's Fragment.
• Philosophical Considerations, 1780; on the controversy between Joseph Priestley and Richard Price.
• Nature and Extent of Supreme Power, 1783; on John Locke's Social Compact.
• "Remarks on the Preceding Dialogue ['The Principles of Government, in a Dialogue between a Gentleman and a Farmer' by William Jones], and the Case of the Dean of Asaph" in England's Alarm! On the Prevailing Doctrine of Libels, as Laid down by the Earl of Mansfield, 1785.
• Deformity of the Doctrine of Libels, 1785; this and the previous work refer to the Case of the Dean of St Asaph.
• Introduction to a Knowledge of the Law on Real Estates, 1814.
• Epitome of the Law of Landed Property, 1818.

Dawes also edited (1784) a posthumous poem by John Stuckey on The Vanity of all Human Knowledge, with a dedication to Priestley.

References

Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1888). "Dawes, Manasseh". Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 14. London: Smith, Elder & Co.