D'ARGENSON, MARC PIERRE, COMTE (dar-zhon-son'), a French statesman; bom in 1696; the younger son of the Marquis d'Argenson (1652- 1721), who created the secret police and established the lettres de cachet. He became war minister in 1743, at a time when the very political existence of France was imperiled, and by his vigor iand lucky choice of generals changed the fortunes of the war. After the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748), he devoted him- self to the improvement of the military system, and in 1751 established the Ecole Militaire. He was an illustrious patron of literature. In 1757 he was banished to his estate by the machinations of Madame Pompadour; but on her death he returned to Paris, where he died in 1764.
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THE DARDANELLES
DARIEN, GULF OF, a gulf of the Carribbean Sea at the N. extremity of South America, between the Isthmus of Panama and the mainland.
DARIEN, ISTHMUS OF, often used as synonymous with the Isthmus of Panama, but more strictly applied to
