However, while he enjoyed the confidence of Queen Mary of Modena, it was clear that he was growing uncomfortable under the recently enthroned James: the violently hostile reception he got from the public when he gave evidence at the Trial of the Seven Bishops left him badly shaken. When he urged James to put away his mistress Catherine Sedley, Countess of Dorchester, James said that he had not realised Sunderland was his confessor, and told him to mind his own business for the future. Sunderland's unpopularity was now almost universal: Burnet wrote that it was "the wonder of all mankind" that James continued to employ him. He was summarily dismissed at last in October 1688, with the remark, "You have your pardon; much good doe it you. I hope you will be more faithful to your next master than you have been to me."