178 SPENCER FULLERTON BAIRD 
I think the inducements for the proposed change very strong. You 
would be transferred to a novus orbis in the realm of Nature and 
brought into contact with a social circle not superior, perhaps, to 
that with which you are conversant at Carlisle, but so differently 
constituted as to excite new sympathies and to bring new powers 
into action. A residence cf a few years, therefore, in Burlington 
would be attended with advantages which might probably counter- 
balance the objections, and it is possible that when our Rail Roads 
are completed we may find such favor in Boston as to secure a more 
liberal endowment; in which case we should be liberally disposed 
to you and to your department. 
Yours very truly 
Georce P. Marsu. 
Baird’s reply is not available but, from subsequent 
correspondence, was in the negative. 
Under date of February 8, 1848, we have the note 
in his Journal of the birth of a daughter, Lucy Hunter 
Baird. ‘The boyish glee, which lay so close under his 
usual serene or serious demeanor, comes to the surface 
in a thumbnail silhouette in the Journal, showing two 
dancing parents, each holding by one hand an infant 
between them. He was very sleepy, having been up all 
night; nevertheless he prepared a fish skeleton in the 
evening. 
From George P. Marsh to S. F. Baird. 
WasuincTon, Feb. 14, 1848. 
Dear Bair, 
I should have been much gratified if you had arrived at a 
different conclusion in respect to moving to Burlington, but I did not 
think that I could conscientiously advise such a step, however pleasing 
it would have been to me to have had you for a neighbor. 
During this month Baird began the exploration of a 
large cave on the bank of the creek northwest of the 
