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

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.^[1]

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:^[1]

• '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 and Richard Price, 1780.
• 'Nature and Extent of Supreme Power', on John Locke'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.^[1]

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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.

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