Notwithstanding this, China had subsisted peaceably for centuries.

The invaders who had conquered the country assumed the manners of the inhabitants, and order prevailed there.

A sort of physical prosperity was everywhere discernible: revolutions were rare, and war was, so to speak, unknown.
It is then a fallacy to flatter ourselves with the reflection that the barbarians are still far from us; for if there be some nations which allow civilization to be torn from their grasp, there are others who trample it themselves under their feet..