A new idea

From yesterday's research: John Wilkins, distinguished Royal Society member, was, I learnt, keen on developing a new "universal" language. (A sign of how even in the 17th-century at least some people saw that Latin was on the way out.) His "Essay Towards a Real Character and Philosophical Language" was read to the Royal Society on May 14, 1668.

His language is explored in an essay here, appropriately enough "translated from the Spanish".