 Elected to the 1842 Constituent Assembly, he was hostile to democratic reform, his views being expressed in the book "De la démocratie en Suisse".In 1848 he left politics and travelled to Paris, reacting with shock to the violent events there.Five years later he came back to Switzerland, and wrote a series of works with economic and social themes, among them "Étude sur les causes de la misère, tant morale que physique et sur les moyens d'y porter remède" (1853).