[142] A legacy was sometimes given on condition that the legatee should not marry a Roman Catholic. As late as April, 1869, the Hon. Araminta Monck Ridley, in London, left a clause in her will that “if any or either of my said children, either in my lifetime, or at any time after my decease, shall marry a Roman Catholic, or shall join or enter any Ritualistic brotherhood or sisterhood, then in any of the said cases, the several provisions, whether original, substitutive, or accruing, hereby made for the benefit of such child or children, shall cease and determine, and become absolutely void.”
[143] Perrin v. Lyon, 9 East. 170.
[144] Scott v. Tyler, 2 Bro. C. C. 488. This is a leading case, and the arguments of the leading counsel engaged contain much of the law on the subject. See Amb. 209.
[145] Godolp. Leg. 45.
[146] Godolp. 46.
[147] 2 Redfield, 295.
[148] Commonwealth v. Stauffer, 10 Penn. 350.
[149] L. R. 19 Eq. 631.
[150] 2 J. and H. 356.
[151] In the following instance, a testator is not content only to have his wife remain a widow—he must have her display the appropriate insignia of her situation. Mr. James Robbins, whose will was proved in October, 1864, in London, declares: “That, in the event of my dear wife not complying with my request, to wear a widow’s cap after my decease, and in the event of her marrying again, that then, and in both cases, the annuity which shall be payable to her out of my estate shall be £20 per annum and not £30.” As there was no stipulation as to the time the widow’s cap was to be worn, probably Mrs. Robbins found it easy to comply with the letter of the request in her husband’s will, and yet indulge her own taste in the matter. In contradistinction to this was the will of Mr. Edward Concanen, proved in 1868. He says: “And I do hereby bind my said wife that she do not, after my decease, offend artistic taste, or blazon the sacred feelings of her sweet and gentle nature, by the exhibition of a widow’s cap.”