GASTINE, Civique, West Indian reformer, born in Fort de Prance, Martinique, in 1793; died in Port au Prince, Hayti, 12 June, 1822. He was of a wealthy family, and from early childhood was impressed by his mulatto nurse with sympathy for the colored race. In 1803 he was sent to New Orleans to receive his education, and in 1809 came to Philadelphia, to study law. A pamphlet, which he published there regarding the emancipation of the Negroes, gave rise to some attacks on him, and when in 1813 he spoke at a public meeting in favor of equality between blacks and whites, he was in danger of being lynched, and fled to Paris. He escaped conscription there in 1814 as an American citizen, and in 1815 began the publication of the paper "L'ami du noir." He was condemned several times to fines and imprisonment for offensive articles, and, when he published his "Lettre au roi sur l'independance de la republique de Haiti et l'abolition de l'esclavage darts les colonies francaises " and "De la necessite de faire un traite de commerce avec Haiti" (Paris, 1821), the government took advantage of Gastine's violent personal attacks to confiscate the work and banish the author, he went to Hayti in 1821, and was enthusiastically received on his arrival at Port au Prince by the public and President Boyer, who appointed him secretary of foreign relations, and granted him a yearly pension of 5,000 francs. By public subscription a magnificent property at Aux Cayes was presented to Gastine, but he only enjoyed it a few months. He published, besides the two works already mentioned, "Histoire de la republique de Haiti, l'eselavage et le colon " (Paris, 1819) ; " L'Esclavage aux Etats-Unis" (1819) ; and " Histoire de l'esclavage dans la Louisiane" (1820).