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Notninalions in Colonial Nezv York 275 mere mass-meetings and unorganized, but the unorganized mass- meeting leads directly to the organized nominating convention. Thus while the old method, previous to the Revolution, retained its hold rather firmly in the rural districts and the upper counties, the new method had attained its first distinctive form, at least within the city of New York. The Revolution itself gave a power- ful impetus to the new method, and practically destroyed the old. It destroyed the old by breaking up and driving out the old aristocracy ; gave a great impetus to the new by teaching a minority the uses of formal organization — mass-meetings, committees, resolutions, chair- manships, and rules of order. When the Revolution was over, and the new elective offices were to be filled, these lessons were not forgotten. Carl Becker.