James Madison wrote the 2nd Amendment. And most of the constitution. And the Federalist papers. We have a whole body of work demonstrating his prowess with the pen. Criticism of his writing as “shitty English” says more about the critic than the writing.

The second clause requires that the first be the subject of the sentence, but then the third clause starts with a new subject,

Does the third clause actually have a new subject? Or, does it use a synonym to refer to substantially the same subject as the first clause?

A well-educated populace, being essential to human progress, the right of the people to keep and read books, shall not be infringed.