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Mirza Abu Taleb Khan, a Lucknow revenue official left without a patron, sailed from Calcutta in 1799 and spent about two years in London. Society lionized him as the 'Persian Prince': he attended balls, the opera and Parliament, met the King and Queen, and wrote Persian verse in praise of London's women.
Abu Taleb judges England with an explicit double ledger. The numbered vices include irreligion, pride, love of money, quick temper, indolence (long hours spent sleeping and dressing), extravagance, and contempt for other peoples' customs. The virtues include a strong sense of honour, respect for rank and law, sincerity, and practical skill in mechanics and science. Separating the list of failings from the list of strengths lets an outsider praise a society's institutions while indicting its character, so neither admiration nor hostility takes over the account.
In his 'Vindication of the Liberties of the Asiatic Women,' Abu Taleb argues against the English belief that Muslim women are simply oppressed. He contends that under Islamic law and custom they retain rights to their own property, their dower, and authority over household and children, which married Englishwomen of his day lacked. He argues that seclusion is a form of protection and status, not a proof of servitude.
Abu Taleb names as an English vice the habit of believing that a smattering of a foreign language or culture is mastery, then publishing books and passing judgment on that basis. Seen from the other side, much of Europe's confident 'knowledge' of Asia looks like overconfidence resting on thin competence. The observed can see flaws in the observer's expertise that the observer cannot see.