By May 1778, Voltaire was dying. The Enlightener received a dignified and modest letter from a priest, the Abbé Gaultier, who was a Jesuit before the suppression. It seemed there was always a Jesuit about Voltaire, a biographer remarked, from his earliest school days to playing chess at Ferney. “When Voltaire heard the word ‘Jesuit’ it stirred some fiber in him: the child who had not known his mother or loved his father or brother had loved his teachers and been loved by them. He…