Sentence:  Puritan austerity was so <WSD>tempered</WSD> by Dutch indifference, that mercy itself could not have dictated a milder system. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To mingle in due proportion; to prepare by combining; to modify, as by adding some new element; to qualify, as by an ingredient; hence, to soften; to mollify; to assuage.