GEORGE BOLEYNE, VISCOUNT EOCHESTER, FIRST MASTER. 45 



object of his embassy was to convey to Francis I. the in- 

 telligence that his sister, the Marchioness of Pembroke, was 

 married to King Henry, and that they trusted his Catholic 

 Majesty would support them in resisting any papal excom- 

 munication. Lord Rochester was also enjoined to invite 

 Francis to visit England, to enjoy the pleasures of the chase 

 with King Henry, who, in anticipation of the visit, issued 

 orders to put the royal parks, etc., in order, and revoked all 

 licences which had been given to hunt in those preserves, 

 so as to ensure plenty of game in case the invitation was 

 accepted. This, however, Francis was obliged to decline ; 

 and Lord Rochester returned to England early in the follow- 

 ing month, where for some time he was in constant attendance 

 upon the court, and apparently getting the best of his royal 

 brother-in-law in those rural sports in which they were so 

 expert. In June he was again sent abroad, in company with 

 the Duke of Norfolk and others, to dissuade Francis from his 

 proposed meeting with the Pope at Marseilles, which, however, 

 actually took place later in the year. During the absence 

 of the Master of the Buckhounds on this diplomatic mission 

 his duties in connection with the pack were doubtless well 

 administered by a competent deputy, as Eustace Chapuys, 

 the ambassador of Charles V. at the English court, in a 

 despatch dated July 30, informs the emperor that Thomas 

 Cromwell, the reigning minister (who was an enthusiastic 

 sportsman), had offered him a licence from the king to hunt 

 in any of his parks, etc., and that be (Cromwell) would 

 accompany him with the hounds as often as he pleased, and 

 mount him also on one of the finest hunters in England. 

 Although this offer was then declined, his Excellency subse- 

 quently participated in some runs with the Royal Pack in the 

 vicinity of London. In the interval Lord Rochester went 

 back to England, probably to render an account of the pro- 

 gress of the embassy to Henry, but he soon after rejoined 

 Norfolk and the other diplomats in France. He was home 

 again in September, and was present at the christening of his 

 niece, the infant Princess Elizabeth, at Greenwich, when, 



