Capers

Vessels of war owned by private- persons, and different from ordinary privateers only in size, being smaller.

Beawes, Lex Merc. 230.

CAPIAS (Lat. that you take). A writ directing the sheriff to take the person of the defendant into writ or with some judgment or decree of the court. It was originally issuable as a part of the original process in a suit only in case of injuries committed by force or with fraud, but was much extended by statutes. See Arrest; Bail. Being the first word of distinctive significance in the writ, when writs were framed in Latin, it came to denote the whole class of writs by which a defendant's person was to be arrested. It was issuable either by the court of Common Pleas or King's Bench, and bore the seal of the court. See Spence, Eq. Jur.; Bail; Breve; Arrest; and the titles here following.