Her death was an irreparable blow, as it were, a prelude to the series of mischances that followed.

The death of their daughter, the lovely Theodosia Alston, completed the tragedy of his checkered life.
Born a gentleman and attaining soldierly distinction and high place, he fell a victim to the lure of a soaring ambition and the devious experience of a man about town.
The object of political proscription for all his intellectual and personal resources, he could not successfully meet and stand against it.
There was nothing in the affair with Hamilton actually to damn and ruin him.

Neither morally nor politically was Hamilton the better man of the two.

Nor was there treason in his Mexican scheme.

He meant no more with universal acclaim than Houston did three decades later.