Selvish

Therefore you powers of the Earth, or Lord Eſau, the Elder brother, becauſe you have appeared to rule the Creation, firſt take notice, That the power that ſets you to work, is ſelviſh Covetouſnes, and an aſpiring Pride, to live in glory and eaſe over Iacob, the meek Spirit; […] theſe two Powers ſtill hath been the Curſe, that hath led the Earth, mankind, into confuſion and death by their imaginary and ſelviſh teaching and ruling, and it could be no otherwiſe; […] And theſe, and ſuch as theſe, have ſtill been the Butt, at whom, the powers of the Earth in all ages of the world, by their ſelviſh Laws, have ſhot their fury. […] not one Lording over another, but all looking upon each other, as equals in the Creation; ſo that our Maker may be glorified in the work of his own hands, and that every one may ſee, he is no reſpecter of Perſons, but equally loves his whole Creation, and hates nothing but the Serpent, which is Covetouſneſs, branching forth into ſelviſh Imagination, Pride, Envie, Hypocriſie, Vncleanneſs; […] And not the Inheritance of covetous proud Feſh, that is ſelviſh, and enmity to the Spirit.

It is a selvish fear, proceeding from an..adulterous love of ourselves.

But after, when this Golden Age with Astræa had withdrawn it ſelf from this corruptible Earth, then Deceipt by the Devils Trappanning, ſeis’d ſo much upon the temper of humanity; that ſelf-ended Intereſt began to take root; The benefit of which, joyn’d with the ſweetneſs of Revenge, ſo intangled the diſpoſition of mankind in the Art of Knavery, that his time was judged to be beſt ſpent, who got moſt cunning to defraud his Neighbour. This Selviſh Policy, though acted by every one according to his abilities in ſome ſenſe or other; yet its chiefeſt Theater is amongſt thoſe, who (ſcorning to dwindle away their days in Petit hazards) lay nothing at ſtake, but whole Kingdomes, or their own ruins: The greater their venture, the more their glory, if they come off with gaine or ſafety.

Hospitality to strangers still lingers in the distant country, but has long been banished from that region of avarice and selvish profusion, an overgrown city.

We beg leave to remark Sir that this is no Idle Tale invented to please the whim or gratify a selvish spirit or a pityfull revenge.

Take warning by my fate, and shun that flowery and bewitching path; for in its labyrinths the good, the gentle, the kind-hearted, and the benevolent, are too often lost; while the sordid and the selvish scarcely so much as run a hazard.

From this and other things that have transpired, I have come to the conclusion that it is the policy and intention to put down every Spirit in the Camp of Israel that would seek to establish a selvish independance, & that Br Rockwood is to be made an instrument to to^([sic]) accomplish that thing, as he is Br Brighams eldest son by adoption.