Emily French was an extraordinary Direct Voice medium. Direct Voice is a form of Physical Mediumship where rather than channeling Spirits to speak with her own voice, or her hearing them as an inner voice and repeating what they say, the spirits would actually use her body's energy and magnetism to create their own voice, independent of French's body, that every person in attendance could hear.
The records of French's seances were recorded by her friend, Edward C. Randall, a prominent lawyer from Buffalo. Initially a skeptic, after sitting with French and observing the spiritual phenomena produced through her mediumship he became convinced of her authenticity and became a dedicated supporter of the Spiritualist movement.
Randall investigated and interviewed numerous spirits through French's mediumship night after night for years during Seances conducted in French’s home. He published his research in several books including: The Future of Man, The Dead Have Never Died, Life's Progression, and Frontiers of the Afterlife.
The Spirits, through Mrs. French's mediumship, spoke of every topic imaginable relating to the philosophy and teachings of Spiritualism such as the nature of God, the afterlife, ethics, prayer, and metaphysics.
These teachings extolled the virtues of charity, prayer, and good works.
A major theme of these seances was what Randall would refer to as "mission work" in his writings. Mrs. French would bring through spirits of the dead who felt lost or confused about their state of existence in the afterlife, and the sitters in the séance would guide the confused spirits towards the light, with the assistance of their Guides in Spirit, with uplifting prayers and words of encouragement teaching the principles of Spiritualism.
The works of Emily French and Edward C. Randall can be read in the wonderful book The French Revelation by N. Riley Heagerty, a fantastic compendium of all of the above mentioned works with the extensive research of Heagerty.
