Yet the taste of the age, demanding whatever was elaborate in compositions of this kind, did not fail to extend its influence over our stern progenitors, who had cast behind them so many fashions which it might seem harder to dispense with.

• 不过，时尚总在日益增加对这类精美制品的需求，这也不会影响不到我们严肃的祖先们，他们也确曾抛弃过许许多多看来是难以废除的风气。