The supporting figure on each side bids us also to keep prayerful watch and reverent guard over the treasure of their memory.
The occupations represented on the south side are symbolic of all the avocations which our men everywhere were called to leave in order to champion the great cause.
The figures in allegory on the north are emblematical of the qualities for which the contest was engaged, which the war evoked, and which all are to love and show at all times.
The oak and acorn carving symbolises strength and endurance. The Cross, inspiring as it crowns all, is ever the symbol of Supreme Sacrifice.
THE PAGEANT OF HEROES.
During Whit Week, June 1st to 6th, 1914, Hastings was the scene of one of the finest shows of Pageantry that ever took place, and it is fitting to record in a work of this kind how Hastings did honour to famous men and women who in the past had been residents or were connected with the town in some way. The aim of the Pageant was to illustrate by means of the Historical Procession and Ceremony the story of Hastings as reflected in history and literature, and by placing tablets on the famous houses of the town where they had resided, to encourage all to the glory in the storied and heroic past. The idea emanated in the brain and imagination of Mr. Charles A. Farmer, a clever journalist, then on the staff of "The Argus," assisted by a host of our principal public spirited men and women. Mr. Farmer was the Hon. General Secretary, and with the ready help of a large Committee, everything went smoothly and was an unqualified success. The episodes in the lives of these heroes were displayed in suitable tableaux beautifully designed and arranged on decorated cars, with the characters in costumes (and many well-mounted on horse-back) to represent the figures pourtrayed(sic) in history.
These Tableaux were arranged in chronological order as follows :
1066 A.D.- The Last Stand at the Battle of Hastings, from the deathless story of Harold, designed by Mr. P. W. Cole, A.R.C.A., and produced by him in conjunction with Mr. Leslie Badham, R.B.A.
1066. William the Conqueror. Tableaux on lines from the poet, Thomas Campbell.
1269. John 0' Gaunt, who received the Honour of Hastings and lived here. Designed by Mr. P. W. Cole, A.R.C.A.
1661. Edmund Waller, the famous Poet of the Restoration. Designed by Mr. Emmerson.
