Unfortunately I still have a soft spot for beautiful writing. The "point" often sticks better when it is expressed eloquently. Having to think a little bit to get to the point also helps with absorbing it, at least in my experience.
> I am slowly replacing the Cotton/Hazlitt translation with a contemporary one and adding new notes
So I would assume that the essay you're talking about is from the earlier Cotton translation and has still not been replaced.
This is the first time I've seen AI being used to "modernize" old texts, and it works wonderfully in this case; though a bit of the old-timey charm is lost imo. I used to read a translation that I'd found in my university library which I enjoyed a lot. Very readable but still retained the "feel" of a 16th century book. I don't recall the translator unfortunately.