THE CONSTITUTION STATUTE OF 1842 283 



This Wool Lien Bill, which was regarded in England with sus- 

 picion and disfavour, readily enough passed the Council, and did 

 more to stave off impending ruin amongst the squatters than even 

 Wentworth anticipated. With subsequent amendments it came 

 into such general use as a negotiable security, that probably more 

 money has been advanced under it in Australia than is represented 

 by all the mortgages on real estate. 



The second session of the Legislative Council was well com- 

 menced when the long-simmering agitation which had been dis- 

 played in Port Phillip for an independent existence found voice 

 in the Chamber, and a champion in Dr. Lang. Before dealing with 

 the result of the militant Doctor's action, it may be well to briefly, 

 summarise what had led up to and prepared the public mind for it. 



According to Mr. Edmund Finn, the voluminous and lively 

 chronicler of the doings of early Melbourne, the first public meet- 

 ing to advocate separation was held so far back as the 13th of May, 

 1840, in the schoolroom of the Scots Church, Collins Street, Major 

 Mercer occupying the chair. Though the entire population of the 

 district was barely 10,000, they saw their surroundings with a 

 prophetic eye, and unhesitatingly demanded separation from a 

 colony whose interests they declared were at direct variance with 

 their own. The meeting unanimously adopted a petition to the 

 House of Commons, which they proposed to forward direct in 

 charge of Mr. H. F. Gisborne. That gentleman unfortunately died 

 on the voyage home, and if the document reached the Secretary 

 of State, it was certainly shorn of any personal advocacy. It was 

 exceedingly outspoken, and alleged that the funds derived from the 

 sale of lands in the district during the previous three years were 

 very largely in excess of the amount realised in Sydney from a 

 similar source, and had they been applied to their legitimate purpose 

 were sufficient to have brought out 7,000 couples. But instead of 

 doing so, the money had " been employed in supplying deficiencies 

 in the revenue of the Sydney Government". Therefore, they 

 appealed for : 



1st. A responsible Government entirely separate from, and 

 independent of, New South Wales. 



2nd. A free and extended Legislative Representation corre- 



