In 1778, he was ordained, but abandoned his priestly calling after some time. He was educated in France and Germany. From 1788 to 1791, he was a parish priest in Turobin. During the Four-Year Sejm, he supported the reform camp; at that time, he published Przestrogi dla Polski [“Cautions for Poland”], in which he described his vision of political and social reforms which should be implemented in the country. He conducted diverse scientific activities – he wrote geological dissertations, studied the Carpathians but also researched economic issues. In 1808, he became the President of the Society of Friends of Sciences. His reform activities were focused on the Kingdom of Poland. He made contributions to the development of both education and industry: he initiated the expansion of the Old Polish Industrial District, co-founded the University of Warsaw and the Academic and Mining School in Kielce. From 1816 to 1824, he was Director General of the Department of Industry and Crafts of the Kingdom of Poland. He died on 20 January 1826 in Warsaw. He wrote, inter alia, Uwagi nad życiem Jana Zamoyskiego [“Remarks on the life of Jan Zamoyski”] (1787), Przestrogi dla Polski [“Cautions for Poland”] (1790), Myśli o równowadze politycznej Europy [“On Europe’s political equilibrium”] (1815).