As regards the second case, they received churches, with the tithes and glebe lands annexed thereto, as a free gift from the owners, and had therefore the cure of souls. They purchased the advowsons of other churches, and even built churches themselves, of which as owners they possessed the advowsons. At first if the churches were near the monasteries, they sent members of their community, who were in holy orders, to perform the religious duties. But when the churches were situated at a considerable distance, and became numerous, the monastic bodies employed curates or vicars to perform the religious duties. These at first received no part of the tithes as their salaries, but only a small sum of money, just what the monks liked to give, and the miserable sum they allowed varied from year to year as it suited the caprices of the monks, who received all the tithes, offerings, and oblations. In the king’s licence, permitting the appropriation, there was the usual condition which the monks ignored, “that an adequate portion be allowed the vicar out of the profits of the church.” The wretched salaries of the curates or vicars produced great scandal and complaints. As the curate or vicar was liable to be dismissed at any moment by the appropriator, he was not likely to insist too rigidly on the sufficiency of his stipend, and so the miserable salary was continued after the passing of Richard II.’s Act. The bishops were much to blame in this matter. Some of them had been monks themselves from their youth; others were anxious to be buried among the monks, or their anniversaries kept by them. These considerations induced some, but not all of the bishops, to favour the appropriation of churches to monasteries. Again, the rich monasteries were able to bribe the bishops, and even the papal curia, and they did so; they allowed the bishops pensions out of the tithes, and even appropriated some of their churches, _i.e._ the rectorial tithes of their churches, to the bishop’s table, on condition that he, as bishop, allowed them to receive churches with all their endowments from the lay owners.[260] The preaching friars and John Wickliffe opened the people’s eyes as to the monastic luxuries, and the poverty of the vicars whom they employed to do their work. The age of building monasteries and granting extravagant endowments had passed, never again to be revived, but there was a growing tendency to sweep all the monasteries away. The scandalous manner in which the monastic bodies had paid the vicars induced Parliament to pass the following Act in 1392.[261] “IN APPROPRIATION OF BENEFICES THERE SHALL BE PROVISION MADE FOR THE POOR AND THE VICAR.”