In 1656 Sir William Davenant undertook to create a form of dramatic entertainment which would be tolerated by the authorities. The Lord Protector was known to be a lover of music. Sir William, therefore, applied for permission to give operatic entertainments, "after the manner of the antients," the "story sung in recitative music," and the representation made "by the art of perspective in scenes." To such entertainments, he thought, no one could object. He was wise enough to give his first performances at Rutland House; but in 1658 he moved to the Cockpit, where, says Aubrey, "were acted very well, _stylo recitativo_, _Sir Francis Drake_ and _The Siege of Rhodes_ (1st and 2d parts). It did affect the eye and ear extremely. This first brought scenes in fashion in England; before at plays was only a hanging." Thus the Cockpit had the distinction of being the first English playhouse in which scenery was employed, and, one should add, the first English home of the opera.[616] [Footnote 616: For a discussion of Davenant's attempts to introduce the opera into England, see W.J. Lawrence, _The Elizabethan Playhouse_ (Second Series), pp. 129 ff.] Later in the same year, 1658, Davenant exhibited at the Cockpit _The Cruelty of the Spaniards in Peru_; but this performance excited the suspicion of the authorities, who on December 23 sent for "the poet and the actors" to explain "by what authority the same is exposed to public view."[617] [Footnote 617: Malone, _Variorum_, III, 93; Collier, _The History of English Dramatic Poetry_ (1879), II, 48.]