after the second restoration of the bourbons the career of courier as political pamphleteer began. he had before this time waged war against local wrongs in his own district, and had been the adviser and helpful friend of his neighbours. he now made himself by his letters and pamphlets one of the most dreaded opponents of the government of the restoration. the first of these was his "petition aux deux chambres" (1816), exposing the sufferings of the peasantry under the royalist reaction. in 1817 he was a candidate for a vacant seat in the institute; and failing, he took his revenge by publishing a bitter "lettre à messieurs de l'academie des inscriptions et belles-lettres" (1819). this was followed (1819–1820) by a series of political letters of extraordinary power published in "le censeur européen". he advocated a liberal monarchy, at the head of which he doubtless wished to see louis philippe.