Not quite:
It was a joke from The Innocents Abroad (1869) by Mark Twain:
"The fuel [Egyptian railroaders] use for the locomotive is composed of mummies three thousand years old, purchased by the ton or by the graveyard for that purpose, and … sometimes one hears the profane engineer call out pettishly, 'D--n these plebeians, they don't burn worth a cent — pass out a King!'" Lest anyone fail to realize it's a joke, Twain then adds, "Stated to me for a fact. I only tell it as I got it. I am willing to believe it. I can believe anything."
Mark Twain was not my source. BTW, his real name was Samuel Clements.