100. It is also a fact that the sacred canons do not demand from those who are ordained more than an honorable life and example, 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 patriæ et claros tibi sume propinquos; Esse tamen vel sic bestia magna potes. Sint tibi divitæ [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 Agustín; 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: