ionary work and have some
200 missionary stations in all parts of the world--notably India,
Abyssinia and the Turkish empire. Though "the poorest of all orders," it
has attracted into its ranks an extraordinary number of the highest
nobility and even of royalty. The celebrated Father Mathew, the apostle
of Temperance in Ireland, was a Capuchin friar. Like the Franciscans the
Capuchins wear a brown habit.

The Capuchines are Capuchin nuns. They were founded in 1538 in Naples.
They lived according to the rules and regulations of the Capuchin
friars, and so austere was the life that they were called "Sisters of
Suffering." The order spread to France and Spain, and a few convents
still exist.

In order fully to grasp the meaning of the Capuchin reform, it is
necessary to know the outlines of Franciscan history (see
FRANCISCANS). There does not appear to be any modern general history
of the Capuchin order as a whole, though there are histories of
various provinces and of the foreign missions. The references to all
this literature will be found in the article "Kapuzinerorden" in
Wetzer und Welte, _Kirchenlexicon_ (2nd ed.), which is the best
general sketch on the subject. Shorter sketches, with the needful
references, are given in Max Heimbucher, _Orden und Kongregationen_
(1896), i. S 44, and in Herzog-Hauck, _Realencyklopadie_ (3rd ed.),
art. "Kapuziner." Helyot's _Hist. des ordres religieux_ (1792), vii.
c. 24 and c. 27, gives an account of the Capuchins up to the end of
the 17th century. (E. C. B.)

CAPUS, ALFRED (1858- ), French author, was born at Aix, in Provence,
on the 25th of November 1858. In 1878 he published, in collaboration
with L. Vonoven, a volume of short stories, and in the next year the two
produced a one-act piece, _Le Mari malgre lui_, at the Theatre Cluny. He
had been educated as an engineer, but became a journalist, and joined
the staff of the _Figaro_ in 1894. His novels, _Qui perd gagne_ (1890),
_Faux Depart_ (1891), _Annees d'aventures_ (1895), which belong to this
period, describe the struggles of three young men at the beginning of
their career. From the first of these he took his first comedy, _Brignol
et sa file_ (Vaudeville, 23rd November 1894). Among his later plays are
_Innocent_ (1896), written with Alphonse Allais; _Petites folles_
(1897); _Rosine_ (1897); _Mariage bourgeois_ (1898); _Les Maris de
Leontine_ (1900); _La Bourse ou la vie_ (1900), _La V