Argen's on, Maro

PIERRE, COUNT D', an eminent French statesman, B. 1696. After filling subordinate offices, he succeeded M. de Breteuil, as minister of war, in 1742. After the death of Cardinal Fleury, the war which was at that time raging threatened the very existence of the French power; but the vigorous administration of A., and his singular capacity for selecting competent generals, speedily reversed the tide of events, and secured a succe ion of victories to the French arms, until peace was restored, in 1748, by the treaty of Aix-laChapelle. A. becoming obnoxious to Madame de Pompadour, the mistre of Louis XV., lost the royal favor, and was exiled; but after her demise he returned to Paris, where he D. 1764. A. was a patron of letters, and the friend of Voltaire; and to him was dedicated the great Encyclopédie of Diderot and D'Alembert.