MANDAMUS, Writ of, in English law, is usually described as a high prerogative writ, containing a command in the name of the king, and issuing from the King’s Bench, directed to persons, corporations, and inferior courts, ordering them to do a specific act within the duty of their office. Direct orders from the sovereign to subjects commanding the performance of particular acts were common in early times, and to this class of orders mandamus originally belonged. It became customary for the Court of King’s Bench, in cases where a legal duty was established but no sufficient means existed for enforcing it, to order performance by this writ. At all times, accordingly, mandamus has been regarded as of the nature of an equitable interference supplementing the deficiencies of the common law. When the object sought could be •equally well obtained by other means, as by an action, or by any other form of proceedings, then mandamus would not lie. A further condition of mandamus at common law was that it lay only for the performance of acts of a public or official character. The enforcement of merely private obligations, such as those arising from contracts, was not within its scope. Further, the interference of the court could only be obtained when there was no doubt of the existence of the duty, or when performance had been demanded and refused. Nor would the writ be issued when performance had become impossible. By the Common Law Procedure Act, 1854, the plaintiff in any action other than replevin and ejectment was entitled to claim a writ of mandamus to compel the defendant to discharge any duty in which the plaintiff might show that he was personally interested, or from the non-performance of which he might sustain damage. The duties so enforceable must, however, be of a ...