U6 G A P 
luntary efcapes, by abufing his prifoners, by extorting 
imreafonable fees from them, or by detaining them in 
gaol, after they have been legally difcharged, and paid 
their juft fees, forfeits his office j for that in the grant 
of every office it is implied, that the grantee execute it 
faithfully and diligently. Co. Zzf. 233. Morf. 143. 
By ftat. 8 & 9 Will. III. c. 27, The marftial of the 
king’s bench and warden of the fleet taking any reward 
to connive at prifoner’s efcape, fliall forfeit 300I. and 
their office, and be rendered for ever after incapable of 
executing any fuch office. It hath been refolved, that 
a forfeiture by a gaolerwho hath but a particular intereft, 
as of him who hath cuftody of a gaol for life, or years, 
does not affedl him in remainder, or reverfion, who hath 
the inheritance, but that upon fuch forfeiture his title 
fhallacrue, and not go to the king, Popk.ii^. zLev.Ti. 
Raym.216. 3Zei;, 288. 
By ftat. 8 & 9 Will. III. c. 27, it is enadted, That the 
office of marftial of the king’s bench, and warden of the 
fleet, fliall be executed by thofe who have the inheri¬ 
tance oftheTaid prifohs, or their deputies. See. and the 
profits of their office may be fequeftered on motion to 
the court of king’s-bench, to fatisfy a judgment had 
againft them for efcape. By ftat. 3Geo. I. c, 15, None 
fliall purchafe the office of gajaler, or any other office 
pertaining to the high ftieriff,'under pain of 500I. 
By ftat. 24 Geo. III. ft. 2. c. 54, a gaoler fhall not di- 
reffily or indiredtly fell liquors to the prifoners, or keep, 
or be concerned in, or benefited by, any tap-houfe, tap- 
room, tap, or licence for that purpofe, on pain of lol. 
for each offence. The juftices in feflions may make al¬ 
lowance to gaolers in lieu of profits formerly derived to 
them from the fale of liquors. By ftat. 31 Geo. 111 . c. 
46, gaolers are, on the firft day of every affife to make a 
return of the fize and condition of gaols, the number of 
prifoners, &c. therein. 
GA'ONS, an order of Jewifti doftors, who appeared 
in the eaft, after the clofing of tlie Talmud. The word 
gaons fignifies “ excellent.” The Gaons fiicceeded the 
Seburasans or Opiners, about the beginning of the fixth 
century. Chanan Meifchtia was the head, and firft of 
the excellents. He reftored tlie academy of Pandebita, 
tvliich had been fhut up for thirty years 
GAP, f. [from gape. ] An opening in a broken fence, 
'—Bufhes are moft lafting of any for dead hedges, or 
to mend gopi. Mortimer. 
With terrors and witli furies to the bounds 
And cryftal wall of heav’n ; which, opening wide, 
Roll’d inward, and a fpacious difclos’d 
Into the waftefui deep. Milton. 
breach.—The lofs of that city concerned the chriftian 
commonweal ; manifold miferies afterwards enf'ued by 
the opening of that gap to all that fide of chriftendom. 
Knolks. —Any paft’age : 
•So ftands the Thracian herdfman with his fpear 
Full in the gap, and hopes the hunted bear. 
And hears him ruft'ling in the wood. Dryden. 
An avenue; an open way.—The former kings of Eng¬ 
land paffed into them a great part of their prerogatives ; 
which though then it was well intended, and perhaps 
well deferved, yet now fuch a gap of mifehief lies open 
thereby, that 1 could wilh it were well ftopt. Spenjer.-— 
A hole ; a deficiency.—If you violently proceed againft 
him, miftaking his purppfe, it would make a great gap 
in your honour. Shakefpeare. —Any interftice; a vacuity. 
—One can revive a languifhing converfation by a fudden 
furprifing fentence; another is more dexterous in fe- 
conding ; a third can fill the gitp with laughing. Swift. 
To make ’twixt words and lines huge ga^r, 
Wide as meridians in maps. Uudibras, 
An opening of the mouth infpeech during the pronunci¬ 
ation of two fucceflive vowels,—The hiatus, or gap be- 
G A P 
tween two words, is caufed by two vowels opening on 
each other. Pope. 
Tojlopa Gap, is to efcape by fomemean ftiift; allud¬ 
ing to hedges mended with dead buflies, till the quick- 
fets will grow; 
His policy confifts in fetting traps. 
In finding ways and means, and [flopping gaps. Swift, 
To fland in the Gap. To make defence; to expofe 
himfelf for the protedlion of fomething in danger.— 
What would become of the church, if there were none 
more concerned for her rights than this ? Who would 
Jlandinthe gap ? Lfley. 
GAP, a town of France, and capital of the depart¬ 
ment of the Higher Alps. Before the revolution, the 
fee of a bifliop, fuffragan of Aix, and capital of a county 
called Gapenfois, about nine leagues long and fix wide. 
In 1602, the town was taken and burned by the duke of 
Savoy; near it is a mineral fpring : eight leagues north 
of Sifteron, and fifteen fouth of Grenoble, Lat, 44. 34- 
N. Ion. 23. 45. E. Ferro. 
To GAPE, v.n. [jeapari, Sax.] To open the mouth 
wide; to yawn, —Gaping or yawning, and ftretching, do 
pafs from man to man ; for that that caufeth gaping and 
ftretching is when the fpirits are a little heavy by any va^ 
pour. Arbuthnot. 
She ftretches, gapes, unglues her eyes. 
And afks if it be time to rife. Swift. 
To open the mouth for food, asayoung bird: 
As callow birds, 
Whofe mother’s kill’d in feekingof the prey, 
Cry in their neft, and think her long away; 
And at each leaf that ftirs, each blaft of wind, 
Gape for the food which they muft never find. Dryden. 
To defire earneftly ; to crave; with for: 
To thy fortune be not thou a flave ; 
Forwhat haft thou to fear beyond the grave ? 
And thou, who gap'flfor my eftate ; draw near ; 
For I would whifper fomewhat in thy ear. Dryden. 
With after. —What fliall we fay of thofe who fpend their 
days in gaping after court-favour and preferments. 
L'EJlrange. —With at. —Many have gaped at the church 
revenues; but, before they could Iwallow them, have 
had their mouths flopped in the church-yard. South.— > 
To open in fiftiires or holes.—Theearthgap«and greedi¬ 
ly opens itfelf to drink in the dew of heaven, or the re- 
frefliments of a ftiower. South, 
If it affume my noble father’s perfon. 
I’ll fpeak to it, though hell itfelf ftiouldga/e 
And bid me hold my peace. Shakefpeare, 
To open with a breach : 
The planks, their pitchy coverings waffl’d away. 
Now yield, and now a yawning breach difplay : 
The roaring waters, with a hoftile tide, 
Rufli through the ruins of hex gaping fide. Dryden. 
To open; to have an hiatus.—There is not to the beft of 
my remembrance, one vowel gaping on another for want 
of casfura in this poem. Dryden. —To make a noife with 
open throat: 
And, if my mfife can through paft ages fee, 
Thatnoify, naufeous, gaping, fool is he. Rafeommon. 
To flare with hope or expectation: 
Others will gape t’ anticipate 
The cabinet defigns of fate ; 
Apply to wizards, to forefee 
What lhall, and what fliall never, be. Uudibras. 
To flare with wonder.—Parts of different fpecies jum¬ 
bled together, according to the mad imagination of the 
dawber; and the end of all this to caufe laughter; a ve¬ 
ry 
