Rare imperial decree issued during the final months of the First Mexican Empire as an attempt to deter political unrest. It was printed in response to a major rebellion which had taken place 19 days earlier in Veracruz to call for the end of Emperor Agustín's reign. The decree suspends regular legal protections for anyone suspected of conspiracy, rebellion, or threats to the Emperor or the state. Instead of going through normal courts, suspects were to be arrested on sight and tried by military tribunals. As Emperor Agustín I (1783-1824) abdicated less than three months later, the present decree offers insight into the ways in which he attempted to hold the Empire together in the face of open rebellion.
With a contemporary annotation from February 1823 by Luis Antonio Garcia at the bottom of the final page. The edges are slightly frayed and (water) stained, small holes in the inner margin from a former binding. Otherwise in good condition. Not in Catalogue of Mexican pamphlets in the Sutro Collection (1623-1888); Steele, C. and Costeloe, M. (eds.), Independent Mexico: a collection of Mexican pamphlets in the Bodleian library; WorldCat.