TO THE JESUITS 311
antipathy to the Jesuits. The philosophers, declared Voltaire, would not have won their game until they had finished with Loyola. The destruction of the Society became the most coveted prize in Catholic states.
The Kings found men who could buttress their consciences. These had in common an antipathy to spiritual authority Pombal in Portugal, Aranda and Squillace in Spain, Tanucci in Naples, Choiseul and Aiguillon in France. The Society could point to its great achieve- ments: its civilizing efforts in the East and West Indies, the moral improvement that had followed its pastoral labours in Germany, the achievements of its gifted men in the sciences (astronomy and phi- lology above all) , and its schools, which Lord Bacon had termed the best of all educational institutions. But the Society's power was an obstacle to the plans of worldly rulers and even to those of the Popes.
Contemporaries of Ignatius such as Melchior Cano, the Dominican who compared himself to Cassandra before the Fall of Troy, had issued warnings and had been mistaken only regarding the time in which they said their prophecies would be fulfilled. "Es orden dc negocios" it is the Order of state business, said the confessor of Charles V, Al- ready during the century following its foundation, the Jesuit Hoffaeus, representing the upper German Province of the Society wrote: "Our holy father, Ignatius, foresaw that by reason of concern with worldly matters, manifold hardships might befall the Society. This concern not only scatters the Fathers and hampers them in the service of God, but also makes them hated and destroys the fruits of their efforts in behalf of their fellow man. The worst examples and experiences have shown that in this business God is not with us. Whenever we have loaned our services for such things, even though it might be upon request and often quite by force, matters took an evil course, not merely when it was the business of worldly rulers, but even when it was that of the Popes." If the Society were not finally to profit by experience it would certainly meet with God's punishment. In particular (he added) the confessors of monarchs must be counselled to exercise the greatest caution in dealing with temporal affairs.
A century and a half after these voices were heard, Troy really fell. The Kings prodded their ministers, and the ministers got the formula from the philosophers. D'Alembert wrote to Voltaire, "Let us place
3
