Important topic, thanks. At times you allude to this, but I think it's fundamental: the King James drafters were working, among many other texts, with the Latin Vulgate; while Addison and Johnson competently wrote Latin almost as soon as they could write English. Latin - with its concision, its flexibility, its strength - was, alongside the tendency of English to have words of one syllable, a key influence on their 'plain prose.' They, in turn, bequeathed the form to generations of English stylists, including those - such as Austen - whose own acquaintance with Latin was small or non-existent.
Important topic, thanks. At times you allude to this, but I think it's fundamental: the King James drafters were working, among many other texts, with the Latin Vulgate; while Addison and Johnson competently wrote Latin almost as soon as they could write English. Latin - with its concision, its flexibility, its strength - was, alongside the tendency of English to have words of one syllable, a key influence on their 'plain prose.' They, in turn, bequeathed the form to generations of English stylists, including those - such as Austen - whose own acquaintance with Latin was small or non-existent.