A History of the Telegraph in France

"In the year 1802, when Napoleon was first consul, there arrived in Paris two artisans of Poitiers. One of these men, Jean Alexandre, had invented a rudimentary form of the electric telegraph, and, with his friend Beauvais, he had left the little country town full of high hopes to submit his discovery to the great soldier who was then guiding the destinies of France. He requested a personal interview with the first consul, refusing to communicate his secret to anyone else."