One of the most striking characteristics of the cult was its literary nature. We have looked briefly in Chapter two at the way in which Charles presented himself and his cause through the spoken and written word during the 1640s, and after the regicide the word was to become the principal means by which individuals experienced the cult. The martyr was mediated through a reading of the Eikon Basilike, the elegies and printed sermons, or, after 1660, through hearing the words of the 30 January Office and the inevitable sermon. The literary nature of the cult is underlined by the failure of the healing relics associated with Charles to catch the public imagination, and it is tempting to speculate whether this reliance on the word reflected the Protestant nature of the cult. Certainly Charles was not seen as a conduit for personal intercessionary prayer. As Thomas Forde observed, the glorified Charles was an example on which to model one's life; he was a book and a text wherein we could read and imitate his virtues and courage, but he was not in any way available to his followers on earth as a channel of prayer.