I wish it were possible, from this instance, to invent a method of embalming drowned persons in such a manner that they may be recalled to life at any period, however distant; for having a very ardent desire to see and observe the state of America a hundred years hence, I should prefer to any ordinary death the being immersed in a cask of Madeira wine with a few friends till that time, to be then recalled to life by the solar warmth of my dear country!
Benjamin Franklin (1815). “The works of the late Dr. Benjamin Franklin: consisting of his Life, written by himself. Together with humorous, moral and literary essays, chiefly in the manner of the Spectator. Among which are several not in any American edition”, p.199
