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

Life

Dawes was a barrister of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

. He left the bar and lived quietly at

Clifford's Inn Clifford's Inn is the name of both a former Inn of Chancery in London and a present mansion block on the same site. It is located between Fetter Lane and Clifford's Inn Passage (which runs between Fleet Street and Chancery Lane) in the City of ...

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 The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, and the law of libel; but defended

William Blackstone Sir William Blackstone (10 July 1723 – 14 February 1780) was an English jurist, Justice (title), justice, and Tory (British political party), Tory politician most noted for his ''Commentaries on the Laws of England'', which became the best-k ...

against

Jeremy Bentham Jeremy Bentham (; 4 February Dual dating, 1747/8 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.

5 February 1748 Old Style and New Style dates, N.S. 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...

– 6 June 1832) was an English philosopher, jurist, and social reformer regarded as the founder of mo ...

, 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 (in 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', on the controversy between

Joseph Priestley Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, Unitarian, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher, English Separatist, separatist theologian, Linguist, grammarian, multi-subject educator and Classical libera ...

and

Richard Price Richard Price (23 February 1723 – 19 April 1791) was a British moral philosopher, Nonconformist minister and mathematician. He was also a political reformer and pamphleteer, active in radical, republican, and liberal causes such as the F ...

, 1780. *'Nature and Extent of Supreme Power', on

John Locke John Locke (; 29 August 1632 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) – 28 October 1704 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.)) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of the Enlightenment thi ...

's 'Social Compact', 1783. *'England's Alarm, or the prevailing Doctrine of Libels,' 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 {{DEFAULTSORT:Dawes, Manasseh Year of birth missing 1829 deaths 19th-century English writers English barristers Members of the Inner Temple