mple,
and a sufficient knowledge. Then, in order to dispense the spurious
and legitimate [322] and the mestizos, there is a brief of Gregory
XIII which begins "Nuper ad nos relatum est," [323] issued at Roma,
January 25, one thousand five hundred and seventy-five. For all
that, I regard them [i.e., Indians as priests] as irregular, not
only for the reasons given and stated above, but also because they
lack the ecclesiastical and priestly mental ability, and the prudence
necessary; and without these all the rest serves as almost nothing,
as Pedro Urceolo sang with graceful elegance in his "Epigrams:"

Sis licet ingenuus clarisque parentibus ortus;
Esse tamen vel sic bestia magna potes.
Adde docus patriae et claros tibi sume propinquos;
Esse tamen vel sic bestia magna potes.
Sint tibi divitae [324] sit larga et munda supellex;
Esse tamen vel sic bestia magna potes.
Denique, quidquid eris, nisi sit prudentia tecum;
Magna quidem dico, bestia semper eris. [325]

101. May God our Lord preserve your Grace for the many years of my
desire. Manila, June 8, one thousand seven hundred and twenty. [326]
Your humble servant, who kisses your hand,

Fray Gaspar de San Agustin

[On a loose paper inserted in the copy of this letter owned by the
Museo-Biblioteca de Ultramar (which as stated above, is unsigned),
which was formerly owned by the well known Spanish scholar Pascual
de Gayangos, is the following: "According to paragraphs [of this
letter] which Paterno inserted in his work La antigua civilizacion de
Filipinos (Madrid, 1887), p. 241, this letter must have been written
by father Fray Gaspar de San Agustin; and according to Sinibaldo Mas,
who inserts entire passages from this MS. in his Informe sobre el
estado de Filipinas en 1842, i, pp. 63-132, and attributes it to
Father Gaspar." Paterno has not had access to the document itself,
but has used Mas.]

[Subjoined to the letter is the following, the origin of which we
cannot account for, but which indicates the wide circulation that
the letter must have had.]

Questions of Father Pedro Murillo [Velarde] [327] of the Society
of Jesus

102. What is the Indian? Reply--The lowest degree of
rational animal. Question--How many and what are his
peculiarities? Reply--Twenty-one, as follows:

Pride Without honor.
Friend Without loyalty.
A drunkard Without satiet