[1] From 1829 to 1831 he was a government assistant on the Guinean coast,[2] but in 1839 he returned to Denmark, where he founded a law firm in Copenhagen.

In 1846 he was a co-founder of the Society of the Friends of Peasants (Bondevennernes Selskab) and was its president from 1848 to 1958.

[1] He was a member of the Folketing for long periods in 1849 to 1882, as well as for a short time in the Landstinget (1853–1866); from 1853–1880 he was State Auditor.

[3][4] As one of the leading figures of Venstre, he contributed to the formation of Carl Edvard Rotwitt's government in 1859.

In 1866 he voted against the revised Constitution and in 1870 joined Det Forenede Venstre ('the United Left').