Can you tell me about the style of writing used in the Federalist Papers?

I’ve always found the Federalist Papers extremely hard to read. They have many complex words, long sentences, subordinate clauses, and large paragraphs. Here are two examples of sentences to frame this question. I don’t know that they’re the best examples.

1.

To multiply examples of the agency of personal considerations in the production of great national events, either foreign or domestic, according to their direction, would be an unnecessary waste of time.

This is the melancholy situation to which we have been brought by those very maxims and councils which would now deter us from adopting the proposed Constitution; and which, not content with having conducted us to the brink of a precipice, seem resolved to plunge us into the abyss that awaits us below.

I’m looking for some explanation about this writing style. Was this common for the educated in the Enlightenment era? When did it come into favor, and fall out of favor? Was it considered good writing, at the time? Would newspaper readers (the intended audience) have easily understood it?