Note XV-1 — Chapter XV · REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 1840-1865.

He had been the sole candidate, obtaining 3,400 votes, which did not constitute a majority. Ferrera was of obscure parentage, and of inferior ability. He was educated by a reactionary priest named Garin, who, wishing him to become a musician of the parish church at Cantarranas, sent him to Tegucigalpa to take lessons on the violin; but the boy made no progress in that direction, and finally was made sacristan of Cantarranas, which position he held a long time, till the revolutionary movements drew him into military life, and he began upholding liberal principles. He figured afterward as vice-jefe, hating his chief, Joaquin Rivera, because he was a democrat. Now we see the sacristan of Cantarranas made president of the state. Francisco Güell, Francisco Zelaya, and Santiago Bueso were recognized as his substitutes in the order named. It was also decreed by the chamber that in the event of a vacancy, absolute or temporary, if the substitutes should be unable to assume the executive duties, the latter should devolve on the ministers of state. Montúfar, Reseña Hist., iv. 191-203. Wells' Hond., 494; Squier's Trav., ii. 449.