While serving as a pastor at Basel, Château-d'Oex, and Montreux, Bridel devoted most of his attention to literature and to questions of linguistics, natural science, and Swiss history. His poetry is less important than his philological work, Glossaire du patois de la Suisse romande (posthumous, 1866; “Glossary of the Patois of French Switzerland”), and two series of his miscellaneous writings: Étrennes helvétiennes (1783–87; “Helvetic Gifts”) and Conservateur suisse (1813–31; “Swiss Conservator”). The Swiss literary patriotism that he espoused influenced the poet Juste Olivier (1807–76).