from The Birth of the Modern: World Society, 1815-1830 by Paul Johnson

Until about 1825 it was considered quite proper for a lady to comment on a gentleman's legs, which were carefully observed and compared. Men did the same. . . . When Thomas De Quincey published his reminiscences of Wordsworth, one of the passages that gave most offense to the poet, his wife and sister concerned legs: '[Wordsworth's] legs were pointedly condemned by all the female connoisseurs in legs that I ever heard lecture upon that topic; not that they were bad in any way which would force itself upon your notice--there was no absolute deformity about them; and undoubtedly they have been serviceable legs beyond the average standard of human requisition; for I calculate, upon good data, that with these identical legs Wordsworth must have traversed a distance of 175,000 to 180,000 English miles--a mode of exertion which, to him, stood in the stead of wine, spirits and all other stimulants whatsoever to the human spirits; to which he has been indebted to a life of unclouded happiness, and we for much of what is most excellent in his writings. But, useful as they have proved themselves, the Wordsworthian legs were certainly not ornamental; and it really was a pity, as I agreed with a lady in thinking, that he had not another pair for evening dress parties, when no boots lend their friendly aid to mask our imperfections from the eyes of female rigorists.'"