The Bulwarks of religion, [two lines from Isaiah] : Much is said at this day, of the bulwark of religion; particularly in Massachusetts, where some consider the English government the bulwark of our religion ...

Proverbs and other sayings often testify to the greater importance of action over words, but words sometimes are remembered more bitterly. Massachusetts governor Caleb Strong’s public fast day proclamation on June 26, 1812, roused sneers and denunciations throughout the years of the war as this broadside shows.[1] Strong declared that “it has pleased the Almighty Ruler of the world in his righteous Providence to permit us to be engaged in a war against the nation from which we are descended, and which for many generations has been the bulwark of the religion we profess. . . .” Strong continued with a “humble supplication to the God of our fathers . . . that he would humble the pride and subdue the lust and passions of men, from whence Wars proceed” (Boston Columbian Centinel, June 27, 1812). Quickly labeled a Tory by an angry citizenry, Strong bore the brunt of vicious criticism for several years. A year and a half later the Baltimore Patriot included a well-crafted song filled with allusions to past heroes, quoting Strong in the title: “‘The Bulwark of the Religion We Profess’; or, A Prayer for Our Enemies” (November 30, 1813).

Coverly took full commercial advantage of this furor, issuing several items appealing to public sentiments, including the amusing “The Strong Fast, or Hypocrisy in the Suds” that ends

Be Massachusetts, Lord, thy care,
And grant us faith and riches,
May we as zealous be in pray’r
As when we hung the witches.

The text on Coverly’s Bulwarks broadside may have been a short sermon, with the traditional biblical text at the beginning. A number of copies must have been printed, as the note on the publication line indicates it is the fifth edition. In addition Coverly published William Ray’s “Hymn for the Massachusetts Fast” that struck out against the governor’s comments in verse and virulent satire ([Concord] New-Hampshire Patriot, September 1, 1812).[2]

At the end of this poem as it appeared in the (Concord) New-Hampshire Patriot, the editor reflected on the impact of Strong’s proclamation. “In his proclamation for a day of fasting, Gov. Strong deplores the event of our being engaged in a war with Great Britain, ‘the nation from which we are descended, and which is the bulwark of the religion we profess’—and he might have added the enslaver and murderer of free born Americans.”