The article alludes to it, but I think that English sentences have undergone a fairly major shift since, say, the mid-1800s or so. Maybe even the early 1900s.

The article alludes to it, but I think that English sentences have undergone a fairly major shift since, say, the mid-1800s or so. Maybe even the early 1900s. I read a lot of older books, and sentences like that aren't uncommon. There's all kinds of strange word orders, clauses piled on clauses piled on clauses, etc. It takes some getting used to, but after a while it quits bothering you. If you made me speculate, I'd guess the Latin education of most English writers had something to do with it. Nowadays, it's actually quite striking how short and simple most of our sentences are.