Horse-racing was among the most favored amusements.

Prize rings were formed, and brawny men engaged in fisticuffs until their sight was lost and their bodies pommelled to a jelly, while hundreds of onlookers cheered the victor....

Pistols flashed, bowie knives flourished, and braggart oaths filled the air, as often as men's passions triumphed over their reason.

This was indeed the reign of unbridled license, and men who at first regarded it with disgust and terror, by constant exposure soon learned to become a part of it and forget that they had ever been aught else.

All classes of society were represented at this general exhibition.