sentences:  During the War of 1812, the ever-conservative Croke even found guilty merchants who had been granted licences by colonial authorities to engage in the slave trade with New England, on the grounds that he could not support an illegal policy.As the highest-ranking justice, Croke administered the colony while the lieutenant governor was away, from 6 Dec. 1808 to 15 April 1809 and again from 25 August to 16 Oct. 1811.His administration was marked with conflict with the Assembly, whose budget he vetoed.