hundreds of abashed consciences

[suprunp]

318.
Now it is parties who vote: and at every vote there must be hundreds of abashed consciences - those of the ill-informed and incapable of judgement, of those who merely repeat what they have heard, are drawn along and borne away.
(Human, All Too Human; Volume Two; translated by R.J. Hollingdale)

Have I understood it right?

hundreds of abashed consciences -
those [abashed consciences] of the ill-informed and incapable of judgement,
those [abashed consciences] of those who merely repeat what they have heard,
(those [abashed consciences] previously mentioned) are drawn along and borne away.

Thanks.

[SoothingDave]

"Those who merely repeat what they have heard" are the ones "drawn along and borne away."

Understand the author is not describing different types of abashed consciences, he is just elaborating about them. They belong to people who are ill-informed, who can not make judgments, who repeat the talking points of the party, who are lead like cattle to the voting booth and told for whom to vote.

[suprunp]

I can pretty well imagine that he is elaborating about different types of abashed consciences, but then I look at ", of those who merely repeat what they have heard" and I can't make out the meaning of 'of those'. If this had been written in this way:

those of [those who are] the ill-informed and incapable of judgement, of those who merely repeat what they have heard

then, presumably, it would not have posed a problem to me.

Would you be so kind to explain the usage of 'of those' to me?

Thanks.

[5jj]

Would you be so kind to explain the usage of 'of those' to me?.

I think it was originally a mistake on the writer's part . I think it should read: Now it is parties who vote: and at every vote there must be hundreds of abashed consciences - those of the ill-informed and incapable of judgement, those of those who merely repeat what they have heard, are drawn along and borne away.

Because 'those of those' is ugly, the writer chopped one .those', forgetting it was necessary for the meaning.