would have been people who were connected with the British government

可能原来就跟英国政府有联系
by some kind of an official appointment,

并接受过某种官方任命
or were related to somebody who had an official royal appointment.

或者跟那些接受过王室委派的人有关联
For these people remaining loyal was not necessarily

对这些人来说继续效忠不一定
due to self-interested reasons,

出于自利
although certainly self-interest could have played a part,

尽管自利确实是其中一个原因
but as important loyal officeholders or people related

但作为重要的王室官员
to them had closer contact with the British government

或与官员以及英国政府有着非比寻常的
than most others,

密切联系的人
and thus they were better able to see the logic of politics in England,

他们因而能够更好地看清英国国内的政治逻辑
so they had more reason to be skeptical of claims

所以他们更有理由怀疑人们所声称的
about a conspiracy afoot in England to destroy colonial rights.

正在英国进行的旨在破坏殖民地权利的阴谋