Hume was a strict empiricist

(while in his study) Live forever

Behind me I distinctly hear the word magistrate. Do I imagine it or are my neighbors inching away from me?
The Colonel steps forward. Stooping over each prisoner in turn he rules a handful of dust into his naked back and writes a word with charcoal. I read the words upside down: ENEMY . . . ENEMY . . . ENEMY . . . ENEMY? He steps back and fold his hands. At a distance of no more than twenty paces he and I contemplate each other.
Then the beating begins. The soldiers use the stout green cane staves, bringing them down with the heavy slapping sounds of washing-paddles, raising red welts on the prisoners' backs and buttocks. With slow care the prisoners extend their legs until they lie flat on their bellies, all except the one who had been moaning and who now gasps with each blow.
Waiting for the Barbarians, J.M. Coetzee