Faced with the threat of a sceptical and anarchistic rejection of religion, Samuel Nelles led his students, his church, and much of Protestant Canada to the recognition and acceptance of the progressive elements of Victorian society. An in-depth exploration of the life and times of this leading academic, "Faithful Intellect" assesses the critical political, religious, scientific, and intellectual debates that characterized the era.

In 1850, Samuel Nelles, a well-educated Methodist minister, was selected to resuscitate the debt-ridden and declining Victoria University. As principal, and later as president and chancellor, he fought against shortsighted government educational policies while making the school into one of the premier universities in Canada. A true academic, Nelles believed in the importance of testing assumed laws, dogmas, and creeds. However his pursuit of intellectual inquiry was always guided by a rational faith in God, as well as the expectation of the future greatness and goodness of humanity. "Faithful Intellect" expands the reader's understanding of many of the key intellectual, religious, and political concerns of nineteenth-century English Canada while providing an essential contribution to the study of Canada’s system of higher education.