Antoine Fabre d'Olivet

He had a discussion with Lord Byron over the British poet's publishing of a play, Cain, in which he said that since both of them were raised as reformed Protestants, he wrote: "We can understand one another perfectly; and if I didn't have anything to reprove you as a heretic, you would not have to fear my orthodoxy".

D'Olivet thought that because Lord Byron did not use the original Hebraic version of the text of Sacred Scripture, but instead a misleading English translation in the play, is therefore leading others towards falsity and away from truth.

When he reached the age of eleven or twelve he was sent to Paris by his father, a businessman in the international silk industry, who wished his son to receive a good education and assist the family business.

However, Paris was about to undergo revolutionary upheaval later in the year and he became actively involved in political pursuits; recalling the period later in his life, he wrote that he had written speeches designed to appeal to moderate Parisians.

These included both music and literature, and during this time he wrote for the stage – both drama and the libretto for the Paris Opéra's 1794 work Toulon soumis – as well as poetry, fiction and journalism.