[1] Gaspar da Silveira Martins was a lawyer and politician who began his public life as a municipal judge in Rio de Janeiro between 1858 and 1859.

In 1872, he was deputy general, but resigned in 1873, a few months after taking over the Ministry of Finance because he didn't support a government bill to declare non-Catholic citizens ineligible.

"[6][7] At a congress in Bagé, Silveira Martins proposed a constitutional reform and the implementation of parliamentarianism, in an effort to avoid an armed conflict; however, he was defeated.

[8] In 1896, after the victory of Júlio de Castilhos, Silveira Martins organized a new congress of the Federalist Party, which continued to fight for parliamentarianism and a federal unitary state, in opposition to the 1891 Constitution.

Paulo José Pires Brandão, grandson of Conselheiro Antônio Ferreira Viana, met Silveira Martins at his grandfather's house.

He didn't know how to speak softly, and even when he did, it was in the tone of a speech, and his clear, sonorous and strong voice invaded the room he was in, the corridors, the hall, the whole house, even across the street.