Sudden forgetfulness is not an unusual thing in the pulpit.
Aubrey, the antiquary, says that when he was a freshman at
college he heard Dr. Sanderson, bishop of Lincoln, well known
for his work, “Nine Cases of Conscience,” break down in the
middle of the Lord’s Prayer. Even the great French preacher
Massillon once stopt in the middle of a sermon from a defect
of memory, and Massillon himself recorded that the same thing
happened through an excess of apprehension to two other
preachers whom he went to hear in different parts of the same
day. Another French preacher stopt in the middle of his sermon
and was unable to proceed. The pause was, however, got over
ingeniously. “Friends,” said he, “I had forgot that a person
much afflicted is recommended to your immediate prayers.” He
meant himself. He fell on his knees, and before he rose he
had recovered the thread of his discourse, which he concluded
without his want of memory being perceived. _Chambers’s
Journal._
(1130)