In December 1778, Silas Lee, former representative of the United States in the Court of France, was embroiled in a dispute with Arthur Lee, also an envoy to France. In the midst of a congressional brouhaha surrounding the dispute, General George Washington visited Philadelphia from his army's encampment at White Plains, New York.  When he witnessed the comfort enjoyed by its citizens -- in sharp contrast to the plight of his army -- and the conflict underway in Congress, he wrote Benjamin Harrison that the nation's affairs were "on the brink of ruin." "A picture of the times, and of Men; from what I have seen, heard, and in part know, I should in one word say that idleness, dissipation and extravagance seem to have laid fast hold of most of them. The Speculation, peculation, and an insatiable thirst for riches seems [sic] to have got the better of every other consideration...Party disputes and personal quarrels are the great business of the day, whilst the momentous concerns of...(Read Full Post)